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Update: Casey’s “Lawyers canceled our trip to a secret oil drilling site”

What's Marin Katusa's "next Bakken" stock with results expected September 16?

By Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe, September 11, 2013

[update: Yeah, as of late September we’re taking back this admission of a mistake — we were right all along, the Casey folks just threw us off with a red herring, as is clear in the subsequent ads that they are now using to pitch this same idea, now looking at mid-October as the time when results will come in after the initial drilling hit some trouble and delays. I still don’t own the stock as of September 26 and haven’t traded it, and won’t until at least October]

I originally wrote an article about this Casey Energy Report tease following the first wave of teasers from the Casey folks, on August 20 — since then, they added some more detail to the teaser pitch that made my solution not fit, so we’ll take a mea culpa and accept this as our mistake for 2013. I’m willing to release one incorrect teaser solution each year before I begin the process of self-flagellation, so we keep our 99%+ accuracy rate but, as always, we are not infallible.

So what’s the story? The Casey folks had a pitch for their Casey Energy Report about the “Next Bakken” — a very early stage exploration company with a large land position and expected drilling results in mid-September. These are the clues they gave initially in their first teasers:

“Over the last year this little company has quietly assembled a 2-million-acre concession in a region whose geological conditions for the production of oil and gas are actually far more promising than those in the Bakken….

“In July, one director of the company, who is also the CEO of a major Canadian oil player, bought 200,000 shares at the market – bringing his holdings of the company’s stock to a total of 1,235,237 shares.”

Which pointed the Mighty, Mighty Thinkolator directly at PRD Energy (PRD.V, PREGF) — they’re working on rejuvenating oil production on about two million acres, using unconventional technologies (horizontal drilling, etc. — I guess we have to start calling those “conventional” now). And more importantly, we had an exact match on those shareholders, here’s what I wrote three weeks ago:

And yes, they are expecting to have short-term results from their first well, which they call Boerger 7A, in mid-September — so the September 16 projected catalyst fit as well. That well is a farm-in they’re earning on a GDF Suez property, and they hope to use this drilling to acquire more data about these kinds of reservoirs as well as earning in their 50% share of the project by spending the money required to drill and get seismic data.

So … sounds like a perfect match, right? Marin Katusa, a Casey analyst, has even recommended them in the past, and he has written in the last six months that he’s looking at “next Bakken” opportunities in the heart of Europe, which would also connect us to PRD. I was convinced.

But then some versions of the ad changed up a bit. The original version is still the same, you can see it here — the same ad they pitched started on August 20, as far as I can tell. Still a perfect match for PRD Energy.

(Back in April, Katusa said: “we believe that we have a company in our portfolio that is just as good: a junior exploration company that is sitting in the heart of Europe. By applying new technology to old fields and old wells, it may very well be sitting on the next Bakken.”)

But dammit if they didn’t throw in another clue in a separate letter that was sent out several days later — that second letter took away the reference to the insider buying but kept the two million acres, and added a clue that conflicted with my first answer. You can see the second version of the teaser pitch here, it’s not up on Casey’s site but someone else published the email. Here’s the offending paragraph:

“Until the company has completed its flow tests and made a public announcement, other than saying it’s in the Southern Hemisphere, we can’t share any details about the company – or even the country where the ‘next Bakken’ is located.”

And, um, no — Germany (where PRD’s fields are) is not in the Southern Hemisphere.

So, resisting the urge to be petulant forever, we went searching for another match.

There are plenty of places around the world who have big potential shale oil deposits, there’s been precious little shale exploration (and even less exploitation) anywhere outside of North America — so if we assume that these two ads are touting the same little stock, what’s another candidate?

A refresh of the clues?

  • An insider, who is a CEO of a different Canadian energy company, owns 1,235,237 shares after buying 200,000 in July.
  • They have a concession of roughly two million acres, acquired over the last year or so, in a “region whose geological conditions for the production of oil and gas are actually far more promising than those in the Bakken”
  • They are expected to have flow test results from a well sometime in mid-September, on or near the teased September 16 date.
  • And for the second version of this tease, they now say the drilling is in the Southern Hemisphere in a “resource rich” country (and they don’t mention that insider buying bit in the second version).

Need to hear some of the rest of the tease, just to refresh your memory? Here’s a bit:

“Just a few days ago, a hastily assembled team including Chief Energy Investment Strategist Marin Katusa and Casey Research Managing Director David Galland were preparing to fly to a secret location. A location where a small oil company is about to drill the first oil well into what appears to be a massive new oil bonanza.

“But at the last minute, the oil company’s lawyers canceled the trip and imposed a total communication blackout. They did so out of concern that regulators would think having the Casey Research team on site gave our subscribers an unfair advantage…

“… our energy analysts believe the company may have as much or even more potential than those companies that made billions in the now legendary Bakken formation….

“Be Ready: We Expect the Initial Drilling Results on or Around Monday, September 16”

Now, the very nature of small exploratory stocks like whatever this one turns out to be, and like Africa Oil before they hit oil in their first hole, means that you have to accept a pretty high likelihood of failure and stock volatility. That’s likely why they’re waiting on results before they send this special report to their subscribers, or at least that’s my impression from the ad — though they also say that members of the Casey Research team are invested in this stock through an investment fund, so it seems someone believes it’s worth a flyer before they make that expected announcement next month. Who knows, maybe they’ve already mentioned it to their subscribers and they’re just holding off on a glowing recommendation until the drilling results come in.

So there you have it. What’s the stock?

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Well, there isn’t one. Not in the Southern Hemisphere, and not that can be found by even a fully refreshed and awake Thinkolator — you can’t match all of those clues and the Southern Hemisphere together and come up with anything particularly interesting.

So … I still suspect that they’re following PRD Energy (PRD in Canada on the venture exchange, PREGF on the pink sheets)… but I can’t say I’m sure anymore, not with that Southern Hemisphere red herring in there. Think of this as a decision in a civil trial, not a criminal one: I’m going with the “preponderance of the evidence” decision here, not the “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

It could be someone else, to be sure — Tag Oil (TAO in Canada, TAOIF on the pink sheets) in New Zealand comes close on some fronts, but they don’t have any CEOs of Canadian companies on their board, nor have they had any insider buys to speak of this Summer (and no one owns that exact number of shares). The other oft-cited possibility is New Zealand Energy (NZ.V in Canada, NZERF on the pink sheets) — but they don’t have any CEOs of large Canadian companies on the board, either, nor have they had that specific insider buying behavior (they do have over two million acres, and they are expecting some flow tests to give them more data about their potential in the unconventional basins on the east side of the North Island — the same area where Tag is also looking for future growth. Tag has had concerns about declining production of late, and New Zealand Energy is trying to make a pretty big acquisition so they need to raise some money, but I haven’t monitored them all that closely otherwise.

PRD Energy shares have gone up by about 50% since the Casey teaser campaign started on August 20, probably in part because our coverage amplified the impact of their teaser ad on the stock (we didn’t charge $800 to tell you the solution to the clues, so we probably had a few more readers). PRD is a company that’s exploring for oil and gas in Germany on just under two million acres, largely in areas with known past-producing or past-explored oil fields that haven’t yet seen horizontal drilling or other new extraction technologies (they say they don’t require fracking to be profitable, which may be important), and it has a market cap of now about $90 million.

The director who recently upped his stake to 1,235,237 shares is Grant Fagerheim, who is also CEO of Whitecap Resources, a much larger ($1+ billion) Canadian producer that’s profitable and pays a dividend. They also have some folks on the board and in their technical team who have Bakken and Alberta experience, and they specifically compare the opportunity to the Bakken in their promotional materials (the New Zealand guys do that, too, as does anyone with any kind of shale prospect around the world).

And yes, they are expecting to have short-term results from their first well, which they call Boerger 7A, in mid-September — that’s a farm-in they’re earning on a GDF Suez property, and they hope to use this drilling to acquire more data about these kinds of reservoirs as well as earning in their 50% share of the project by spending the money required to drill and get seismic data. Here’s the pertinent bit of their latest operational update about this potential catalyst:

“Mobilization of the drilling rig is well underway and PRD expects to begin drilling on August 2 or 3, 2013. Drilling will start from a depth of 680 meters and continue to a total vertical depth of approximately 1,800 meters with a 300 meter horizontal leg. Drilling is expected to be completed in August. Depending on drilling results, the Company expects to announce short-term production test results in mid-to-late September.”

That news has not yet come out. Don’t know if it will really hit on September 16 or not — and, of course, it might not be good news.

Their investor presentation is pretty compelling in making the case for the opportunity in these old German oil fields, many of which haven’t produced for 20 years, but, of course, it’s an investor presentation — its job is to be compelling. And as is teased in the pitch, they have indeed built up this portfolio of concessions relatively quickly and quietly, the vast majority of their acreage was added over the past year.

I’m not buying or selling this one (or either of the New Zealand companies), and of course I’m not telling you to buy or not to buy it, but it’s still the best match for the stock the Casey folks say they’re going to analyze for Casey Energy Report subscribers following the drilling results next month, and the version of the ad they’re sending out these days again fails to mention the Southern Hemisphere clue that threw us all into a tizzy on August 26.

I can’t explain why that teaser pitch about the Southern Hemisphere got added on to make the clear and specific match no longer a match, but coincidences are certainly possible — maybe there is another company that matches all of those disparate clues from the two different teaser pitches … or maybe the ad that mentioned the Southern Hemisphere was a mistake or an intentional red herring (remember, the ad with the Southern Hemisphere did not mention the insider ownership specifics).

So I’ll toss it out to you — If any of the other Gumshoes out there can find a match for us of a company that is sitting on roughly two million acres of oil exploration concessions with some drilling or flow test results expected in the next couple weeks, that has a board member who is also CEO of a Canadian energy company, who bought 200,000 shares in July and now owns 1,235,237 shares, and is drilling for oil somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, I’ll upgrade you to a lifetime membership in the Stock Gumshoe Irregulars for free (just in time! I’ll be reporting for the Irregulars from the Value Investing Congress next week). If you’re already a lifer, I’ll find something else to give you.

I’ve kept all of the comments from our original August 20 article below, including some speculation about those New Zealanders and some other commentary — feel free to add your notes to the pile.

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Cabaokeguy
Member
Cabaokeguy
August 21, 2013 6:38 am

Classic. What person is up at this hour, reading newsletters and sober?
BTW the surest way to lose money in the markets? Drunk trading.
Keep up the work good. lol

waldo
Member
waldo
August 21, 2013 6:51 am

I rezzzemble that remark Sir

Jim B
Guest
Jim B
August 21, 2013 7:08 am

I’m up reading it, and I’m sober! Of course I’m on the graveyard shift, but that’s besides the point. If Fagerheim has a huge stake in this company, isn’t that a pretty good endorsement for where he thinks the potential of this play is going?

proletatriat
Guest
proletatriat
August 21, 2013 7:11 am

I find it very , very interesting, since the germans NEVER let’ anybody even build a farmhouse on their oh so precious land , even today hell has to start freezing before anybody gets permission to break open new land, let alone for such a ” dirty'” company.BUT , could it be that germany ( pressured by being euro -land’s financier) is pressured into letting this go ahead ? Hard to tell. but apparently they are ” exploring ” old wells, and that is in essence not ” new land” .I will keep my eye on this one, since no one would suspect Germany to have large oil field in their backyard, specially these days , what with all those German tree huggers, LOL. very interesting , Thanks thinkolator, i read this teaser just yesterday! and was wondering when you’d jump on this one. And how about Africa oil, is it still worth jumping on? Or how does one acquire royalty interests on those?

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vicking
Member
vicking
August 25, 2013 7:18 am
Reply to  proletatriat

Das Konsortium führt das Projekt Börger 7a unter berg-
und fachbehördlicher Aufsicht entsprechend den sehr
hohen Standards zum Schutz von Mensch und Umwelt
durch, die für E&P-Projekte in Deutschland gelten.

high standards for environmental control

GL
Guest
GL
August 21, 2013 7:19 am

I’m glad you covered this, not because I care for Casey’s stuff, but this one had one of the best pitches I’ve seen in a while. So thanks for the heads up. Casey is always entertaining but not always such a great idea.

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danielj1960
Irregular
August 21, 2013 8:06 am

I lived in Germany for several years while serving in the US Artillery. You can’t even wash your car at home because they are worried about pollution. It is very hard to believe they will let anyone even utter the word hydrofracturing much less let them do it.
Then again I was the one that said Tesla would not do very well so .

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Roger Bond
Member
August 21, 2013 8:34 am

I was one who bailed on Africa Oil when the price started to recover after seeing large paper losses shortly after purchase, still licking that wound.
Casey’s energy newsletters have been pretty much sleeping material for several years, so if this is the real deal it’s no wonder they’re putting the PR machine to work.
Then again, it could be just the PR machine trying to get things moving after a multi-year slump.
They’ve been looking for Uranium (and the stocks) to start recovering for quite a few months too, who knows, maybe after the Summer doldrums?
Not being an expert on Germany, I too would be hesitant to invest if it turns out that’s where it is. Everything I hear from them is way to eco-minded to allow even the smallest of drills but maybe the promise of black gold can change things.

Roger.
InvestLetters.com

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lily
lily
August 21, 2013 10:09 am

It’s already jumped 16% from yesterday’s 60 cent close. Was thinking of making this my annual gamble but will now wait a week or so to see what happens with this recent activity.

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Dave
Dave
August 21, 2013 10:22 am

At the least, Travis, you sure can move a stock!

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John Harris
Member
John Harris
August 21, 2013 10:35 am

Drilling in Africa is one thing, and I bought Africa Oil when Gumshoe presented it and sold half for a great profit some months later and hold the other half- somewhat down from its high but still way higher than bought. But in Africa you can do what you want without much constraint. I would worry about Germany in contrast and even if they can get some flow without fracking, (and be barely profitable) the comparisons to the Baken (huge profits) are not likely to prove real without fracking. If the Germans don’t allow fracking you will be hard pressed to change their minds. As a joke I heard says, “you can always tell a German, you just can’t tell them much” (ok it is a joke, and in a way a compliment to the German intellect so don’t get upset – just laugh)

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jaybass
Member
jaybass
August 21, 2013 10:39 am

New to your service but just based on the Germany drilling,I love it! Jaybass

harley
Guest
harley
August 21, 2013 11:45 am

Look at the average volume, how do you get out of a stock that trades less than 1k a day?

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edski
Irregular
August 21, 2013 12:04 pm
Reply to  harley

Sheeeeeesh. How did I end up in Siberia while you ended up in Germany?

davidshelton
August 21, 2013 11:43 pm

Well done Travis and the mighty thinkolator! There seemed so little to go on to crack this tease but you did it.! I am not a big fan of CER after being a subscriber from 2010 to 2012(you can see my review to the right!) and this tease irked me a little by name dropping Africa Oil as a great pick of Marin Katusa’s. It’s true he did pick this stock well before it hit a home run but what they don’t tell you is that he had a sell on this stock for CER subscribers at just over 2usd. It was already a risk free position at that point having advised subscribers to recoup their original investment. All the more satisfying that Travis cracked the “Casey Code” on this one!

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davidshelton
August 21, 2013 11:45 pm

ps as an aside the Casey team must have a high conviction on this one to tease it so aggressively. Trying to get CER a better reputation?

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Rusty Brown in Canada
Member
Rusty Brown in Canada
August 22, 2013 4:46 am
Reply to  davidshelton

“Talking their book”?

davidshelton
August 23, 2013 3:47 pm

If I’m not mistaken Casey funds have money in the stock also….

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Mike
Guest
August 22, 2013 12:25 pm

Interesting, and thanks as usual for your research to uncover these typical hyped up secret deals, job well done as usual. Although interested, especially given Europe depends largely on Suez Canal oil, and the past pulling the plug by Russia, the tree huggers in Germany just might be silenced over homeland oil exploration.

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bob
Guest
bob
August 23, 2013 2:06 pm

Very detailed presentation, so I just bought some PREGF at $.6812 — maybe too much. Looks like the field of interest is close to the North Sea, maybe near Meppen where I did some work many years ago. Yes, they say fracking is not necessary, but I wonder if that is because the German regulator won’t allow it? And I wonder if this is the first application of horizontal drilling in that field?

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David Grumbling
Member
David Grumbling
August 23, 2013 11:10 pm

I read from an article on 8/20 that “the Next Bakken” will be the Niobrara Shale Formation, and the company is ETKEF. This is from the “Energy Strategist”. I don’t know who the author was. I guess there are a few “Next Bakkens” around. They’re trying to sell subscriptions, after all…..

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gangaji
Member
gangaji
August 24, 2013 12:35 pm

Hello everyone! I am a brand new member..
I did some research through the German media (I ‘m fluent in French & German). The federal government was working on a fracking draft law. One of its restrictions would have been that gas reservoirs above 1000 meters should not be pierced in order to maintain the distance to the groundwater. In May 2013 the proposal has been cancelled/postponed to post-elections (22.09.13). That could be a reason why the secret meeting was cancelled. However, at the federal government assembly it was stressed that fracking is not going to happen in Germany in the years to come.
In that case I doubt that the country in question can be Germany, they wouldn’t have allowed to drill deeper than 1000 meters (Casey mentions 680 to 1600) and Casey expects drilling results Sept. 16th.
I hope this can help.

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john
Guest
john
August 25, 2013 3:30 pm

the availability of services will make the economics of drilling — challenging..

dennis
Guest
August 25, 2013 8:11 pm

I like Tag oil . Oil market up &down lately. Doubled in price and I will Buy more when the market corrects. NZ oil is Also in New Z., has some problems. Tom Dyson teased,770 tax free retirement acc. also Bank code way of investing and third wave oil investing.Any clues? Sound great. I hope it is. Have any clues? Many oil co. to choose from . I wouldn’t worry about Germany. Keep an ear open. I love Tag oil& gas tao.if . Get on their email I thank everyone for their comments.

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