I agree with those sentiments doug, I remember thinking at the time "why are they throwing all that cash at wildcats and not proving up cash flow through development of their known field?"
HOWEVER, I also recall that until circa early 2013, Sampson were not the operator of the North Stock yards field and the other participating parties, including the operator, did not want to develop the field at that time. As such, SSNs only choice prior to 2013 was to chase glory on their wildcat acerage. Then, soon after becoming operator of NS, they began the infill development. After loads of operational problems as operator (both in wildcat fields and NS) they got Slawson on board to run ops and field development has continued very successfully since then.
My beef is more around SSNs choice to use 3rd rate drillers during their period as operator to save a buck. But then again, 2011-2014 was a a tough time to get good people at a price you could afford, especially for a micro cap like SSN. It took them a while, but they realised they were out of their depth as operator and got in a well experienced private company with their own in-house drill crews (Slawson) to get the job done.
Apologies if the above is a bit vague on details around dates, other company names etc but I'm writing from memory. I don't have the time right now to drill down into the old reports but I am pretty confident the general jist is correct, will put together a more factually detailed post if I get a chance.
SSN Price at posting:
0.6¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
