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Sleuthifying “Petro-Pusher Profits: How to Make 412% Returns from America’s Oil Liberator”

Sniffing out the "Earthquake Effect" teaser from Jeff Siegel's Power Portfolio

By Travis Johnson, Stock Gumshoe, August 1, 2012

Jeff Siegel’s been going a bit wild with his promos for the Power Portfolio newsletter, with several new “over the top” teaser ads blanketing the interwebs in the last couple months.

And since he’s running on so many huge mailing lists, his teasers always catch the attention of the finest and most erudite readers in cyberspace (that’s you, of course). So let’s get ourselves a solution, shall we?

Here’s how the tease opens:

“430 billion barrels of American oil remain untapped because they are too difficult to extract

“But that’s about to change — thanks to one simple technology.

“Oil companies are already using it, increasing production by 1,000%… And only one company makes it.”

So this is one of those “better mousetrap” companies — someone who has a technology that makes oil production much better in some way, either cheaper or more productive or more environmentally friendly, the kind of technology that we could easily imagine becoming “standard practice” in a massive industry. Which would, of course, lead to massive profits if it’s a proprietary and patented technology.

So … some more clues as to what kind of magic technology this is:

“Up to 90% of proven oil is simply abandoned by profit-hungry oil companies!

“Now just imagine what it would mean if these companies could finally get to all this “leftover” oil.

“If only they had the right technology…

“If only the right technology even existed…

“I’m here to tell you that it does….

“The Earthquake Effect …

“To understand how this technology works, it’s important to realize why it’s so difficult for producers to reach more than 20% of the oil beneath their feet.

“To extract the oil, companies inject hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and carbon dioxide into the ground to push it into another well where it can be pumped out.

“But instead of acting as one massive wave of pressure throughout the entire formation, water and CO2 flow the path of least resistance, with much of it seeping away into tiny rivers and nooks and crannies in the earth.

“The result is that only a fraction of the oil can be recovered before there is nothing left but water and CO2.”

We’re told that this technology was discovered fortuitously — scientists realized that earthquakes in Alaska led to increased production of oil in Western Canada, and tried to figure out how those seismic waves increased oil production.

“In the late 90s, with oil still at $12 at barrel, one tiny company put this question to the test.

“And the answer it came up with was a device so mind-bogglingly simple that it can be used right out of the box!

“All oil producers need to do is attach this device to the bottom of a fluid injection string…

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“Then this ‘Petro-Pusher’ relentlessly pulses water through the ground at speeds of up to 100 meters per second….

“in some cases, the Petro-Pusher has increased individual well production as much as 1,000% — and secondary field recovery by 30% or more…

Last year, Core Energy almost doubled oil production at its carbonate pinnacle reef field from 46 barrels of oil per day (bpd) to 84 bpd…

At a formation in Crane County, TX, production soared 30%…”

And we also hear about a few well-known oil companies who are at least testing this technology:

“Small wonder why the Petro-Pusher is already being used by giants like Chevron, Penn West, Apache, BP, Halliburton, and others at more than 175 wells across North America…

“Or why the number of drilling stations equipped with it has soared 3,300% since 2007.”

So who is this? Toss all that info into the Thinkolator, and we learn that this is … Wavefront Technology Solutions (WEE in Toronto, WFTSF on the pink sheets).

Which has graced the pages of the Gumshoe before, as some of you might remember — the enticing combination of tiny stock, new technology, obscurity, and potentially broad base of customers is hard to resist for the newsletter guys, and this one was teased back in November by Keith Schaefer over at Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin, who is unabashedly focused on “story” stocks in the energy patch (small companies depend on small investors, after all, and small investors love cool stories).

Since that last wave of teasing (I think Schaefer might also be teasing this one again recently, though I’m not sure if those are new pitches or rehashed emails rolling in to Gumshoe HQ), Wavefront has mostly trended down this year — it is clearly driven to a large extent by these widely publicized newsletter recommendations. It just about doubled from 50 cents when Schaefer teased it in November and then gradually fell for most of the first half of the year, and since this last campaign from Power Portfolio started a few days ago it has bumped up by a quick 30-40%, though it remains to see how sticky those gains will be. You can rely on a newsletter with a pretty big mailing list to drive up a stock price for a microccap company like this (it is indeed very, very small — the whole company is valued at about $50 million right now), but you can’t rely on them to keep the price up — for that you either need an increasing flood of positive news from the company, or you need yet more people piling on to recommend it to their subscribers.

What does Wavefront do? They license their “wave” injector products that create pulsing waves of pressure — the Powerwave does this for oil and gas injection wells (where they pump water in for water floods, for example, though they say they can increase yields from any injections — of CO2, chemicals whatever), and the Primawave does this for cleanup projects, when remediation fluids are injected to clean up a damaged site. Powerwave is where most of the excitement and business is, since there are plenty of oil companies who know that increasing efficiency or yields of their fields could yield big bucks.

So if the technology does take off and whatever patents they might have prove to be sturdy, things could certainly work out well for Wavefront — it’s very, very hard to change the way oil companies work and to introduce new technologies (Hydraulic Fracturing was invented 50 years before it was really used for production in the late 1990s, and it took almost decade after those first efforts in the Barnett Shale before it opened up shale gas and oil fields around the country), but they do have some compelling data about the success their early customers have seen.

They’ve also had a fair amount of news out lately — one of their customers extended the number of wells they’re licensing last week, and this week they announced earnings and then followed that up with a press release about an independent validation of the effectiveness of their technology in some Canadian oil projects. So it might be that the shares are moving more on actual news this time than on Jeff Siegel’s tease.

So revenues are certainly moving in the right direction at the moment, though they’re a long way from recouping investments so far — the good thing about Wavefront is that their licensing model means that if they do get to a critical mass of customers they can build up a terrific high-margin business, but the bad thing is that they’re still not very close to that tipping point where their revenues exceed their R&D and marketing expenses. They’ve had some big-name clients try the system, including an announcement that Pemex will be trying Powerwave on their huge and declining Chicontepec field, but revenues are still quite low in comparison to the grandiose potential of the “story.”

I haven’t studied Wavefront in much detail and I’m still feeling quite cloudy in the head, I’m afraid (even more so than usual, thanks to powerful pain meds and antibiotics), but it is at least an interesting company — a great story and a revenue/earnings picture that’s not quite established yet, though they do have $10+ million in cash to keep them going for a while (they lost $1.5 million in the last quarter, though their spend on marketing is probably climbing quickly). Sound like the kind of story you’d like to dig into and make a gamble on mass adoption? Let us know with a comment below.

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doug8
Member
doug8
August 1, 2012 4:29 pm

Thank you for being the sleuth on the job!
Glad you like solving the puzzle, because I sure like reading your findings.
Best regards,
Doug8

Paul
Paul
August 1, 2012 5:27 pm

Hope you feel better Travis! Godspeed on your recovery!

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Lexx
Lexx
August 1, 2012 6:41 pm

Get better Travis! We need you. Age ain’t nothing but a number?? Whats your take on Vanoil Energy Trav? I know you own a few shares. You think they are worth it? How long have you held them so far?

john sloan
Guest
August 1, 2012 9:55 pm

HI Travis
catching up on back email and first off gumshoe – very sorry you have been ill. Please take it easy – nothing going on that cannot wait – greatly enjoy and benefit from your detective efforts.
best wishes
john

Larry
Guest
Larry
August 2, 2012 7:31 am

I own 450 shares of this company. I truly believe this technology will develop over time to a big winner.. I think the company is concentrating on developing interest with a lot of majors at this time. They originally gave the marketing rights to Halliburton, but do to lack of interest I believe they took those rights back and have gone on their own to market the technology. I think maybe Halliburton still might have international marketing rights to the technology.

bashley9
August 2, 2012 12:31 pm

can anyone tell me anything about SNXXF? I own shares but can’t seem to find any information about it.

jeffery jackson
jeffery jackson
August 2, 2012 6:18 pm

I agree other than a few pieces from Marketwire and Bloomberg there is not much to read. Even thier own website lacks anything to chew on. Try searching here at the Gumshoe and, if you have not done so already, for your best source. Maybe Travis can help us out when he feels better. GET WELL SOON

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Gerald Bailey
Member
August 4, 2012 3:30 pm

Great Suwami Travis; what do know about Strategic Investments by James Dale Davidson?

fiddlerpaul
fiddlerpaul
August 7, 2012 3:06 pm
Reply to  Gerald Bailey

Gerald,
I’m get their letter…awesome portfolio picks is all I can say and they know the way the winds blows for sure.

GWatts
August 4, 2012 5:23 pm

I found this info on Yahoo re: SNXXF
@TnC

This is from long_sand on the Yahoo Message board.

“I have been following Sandstorm for some time and I love their Management and Business Model. Nolan is a shareholder’s dream. I am glad to have found this message board and only wish that I would have found it earlier. Anyways, let me get to the point of this topic:

I am a U.S. resident and I currently own both Sandstorm Gold and the Warrants on the PINK sheets (SNDXF and SNXXF). I was recently curious as to how I would go about exercising my 2014 warrants if/when I decided to do so. I contacted Sandstorm directly to receive a copy of the Warrant Indenture and Warrant Certificate. Interestingly enough, there is a legend that is applicable to U.S. Residents. Long story short, it restricts U.S. Residents from exercising the warrants UNLESS the common shares being issued have been registered under the U.S. securities act.

At this time, SNDXF is being traded OTC and obviously not registered under the U.S. securities act. So, it seems to me that U.S. Residents should be careful with this warrant play. I did, however, confirm with Sandstorm when I spoke with them that they have intentions of listing on U.S. Major Exchange, but this is not for another 12-18 months. So, if this happens prior to 2014, I think we are okay. Of course, many people holding the Warrant play (SNXXF) probably don’t actually have the intention of exercising these warrants but rather selling the warrant itself when it is very much in the money.

Anyone with experience holding foreign warrants on the pink sheets – I am curious for some feedback on this one. If I am completely off here, I would love some more information. I can send the Warrant Indenture / Certificate for review.

All that being said, I am still VERY long on this company and its brother, Metals & Energy. I would just like to get some more input on the warrants before I increase my exposure. ”

I’m in Canada so does not apply but I’ve heard a few times about the American listing which will provide rocket fuel to this stock.

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Dan Sand
Guest
Dan Sand
August 9, 2012 2:08 pm

VERY SPECULATIVE AND MANY ERRORS,
WHO SUPPLYS THE INFO FOR THESE ARTICLES?

CHECK THE STOCK CHARTS! ON V.Wee

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