Apr 17, 2012
Doc,
I just received a packet from this company, and from what I can tell, the biggest return on investment was about 10 percent on the dollar as of today. They had 3 or 4 wells which hit, and produced about 650 barrels the first day, and then petered down to a very low output, with none of these having produced more than 1,400 barrels total. It looks like what they do best is drill for water, and possibly contaminate aquifers. I read the history of well after well, and it seemed like something went wrong with almost all of them. On many of the wells which were abandoned, the company offered parners equity in other wells, but it appeared as if the partners were being asked to kick in more money. Their gross profits were substantial, but so are expenses, and it looks like the company is taking out about 20 percent for "selling and administrative expenses." The prospectus talks about how they want to do business in an ethical and honest manner, and mentions that no partner has ever sued the company. That's understandable, since you are forced as a partner to sign a power of attorney to the company, and you AGREE to forego any right to sue the company. The CEO was arrested about 10 years ago for not paying gambling markers of about $180,000, because the markers were treated as NSF checks.. About 10 years prior he was arrested on cocaine charges, served probation for that and also plead guilty to Felony Sexual Assault at the same time. I got in to a "limited partnership" about 10 years ago with a "money back guarantee" and I had to threaten the company with a lawsuit, plus contacting the state attorney general in my state and the state the company was headquartered in, the SEC, The FCC (this was involving a mobile phone/paging license, and with the OSBI, our state's version of the FBI, whose deputy director is one of my closest friends and a former neighbor,
Supposedly, this company does not want to register in each state with the SEC due to the costs, but I suspect that they don't want to deal with all the regulations which protect investors if they were selling "investments" or "securities", and I don't care what they saw, after reading all the dirt on this company, and the legal actions which they have encountered in Colorado, Alabama, Pennsylvania, etc, they are selling these "partnerships" as investments. I was told that they were achieving a 90 percent success rate on their wells. From what I have read, it's closer to 5 percent, and their biggest "testimonial" was from a man in Dallas, I believe he was a Doctor also, who had invested with this company in about 20 wells (so he has kicked in millions) and he said that he is "a little below break even." It looks like the company is profitable, with the executives and sales staff making the profit. They are showing a significant negative net worth on their balance sheet.