haha thanks Shab :)always nice to find a contrarian view on my...

haha thanks Shab :)

always nice to find a contrarian view on my investment and make me re-think why I bought AND why I continue to hold.

Not a PR man for MAD, that I can assure you, just find this type of research interesting. Your points were things I had not considered and actually had to spend some time researching the exact history of the field :)

As for the high impact wells, I honestly think the drilling techniques available at the time would not of been economically viable.

http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/e_ertwd_xwde_nus_fwa.htm

This shows the average drill depth of exploratory wells, the trend is fairly clear. Much deeper now than in the 1950's (when chevron owned the field).

American energy didn't have the capital to do the wells. Petrosearch and Kellco I have no idea why they didn't try drilling deeper other than perhaps they didn't have the seismic to support the capital investment.