I've sold. Its gone, history. A chapter of my life has closed. I...

I've sold. Its gone, history. A chapter of my life has closed. I have owned HDR since around 1997 except for 4 uncertain days after the successful coup.

The happiest moment
Waking up at 4am (NYT time) to view the drilling progress reports at Chinguetti and reading that oil was found.

The saddest moment
Getting badly burnt on warrants when the second drill, Courbine was dry. I think my dying breath will be 'i shoulda sold those HDROs'.

The most frustrating moments
Watching HDR wallow in the 30s during the drilling off season, year after year.

The dumbest thing I ever did
Apart from getting greedy with warrants, not topping up more during the off season. The off season dip was as predicable as clockwork.

The best poster
There were a lot of great posters over the years although sadly many of them have faded away, but one poster stands out above all others and that is King Louie, whose indefatigable optimism was an inspiration to us all. Sailorgirl also deserves a special commendation.

The worst poster
Who can forget Stockos oil oil oil post in the lead up to the Chinguetti results. The timing of his post, prior to the drill bit touching the oil, proves it was an outrageous pump and dump attempt.

Sadly, I have to admit, HDR did not live up to my expectations. When the very first well found oil, in such a vast unexplored province, Mauritania seemed so full of potential, and HDR vastly undervalued. If you had told me that 5 years and dozens of wells later Chinguetti would be the only producing well, I would have rolled on the floor laughing. With the recent scaling back of reserve estimates on Chinguetti it's rubbing salt into the bitter wounds. I think the Tullow take over was very lucky for us. Without Tullow we'd be below a dollar and I don't think I could bear that. Potter gave us an exit at a fair price and we should be great full. If you want to continue the dream, you have the Tullow option.

It was great getting to know you guys. Although my posts dropped off in recent years due to work and family pressures, I've been lurking regularly. With HDR gone I no longer hold any Aussie stocks, so I'll be bidding farewell to HotCopper. I invest in the Vanguard world equity fund, so I own a piece of almost every stock in the world. Low stress, low volatility.

Good luck to all of you. We had faith and in the long run we were rewarded.