(EEGC.OTC)
www.empireenergy.com
May 12, 2009
Empire Energy is an oil and gas exploration company based in Tasmania, an Australian State off the Southern Coast of the Australian Continent. It has company Headquarters in Leawood, Kansas in the US and most of the funding and financing activities are centered in London. That means there are business and exploration activities to coordinate in three widely scattered parts of the world which is no easy undertaking even under the most optimum of conditions. These are not optimal conditions.
For the last several years Empire Energy has been diligently preparing to drill several deep targets on their rather large “on shore tenement (lease)”. The lease encompasses 15,000 square kilometers or 6000 square miles; 3,800,000 acres of the most prospective section of the Tasmanian Basin, one of the last virgin oil plays in the developed world.
The big question on the minds of seasoned shareholders is when will they commence drilling? They’ve been prepared to drill for over four months with a drill rig situated on one of their most promising targets at an area known as Bellevue.
We hear ruminations of impending financing and we hear about collateral transactions and JV arrangements with other promising junior miners. We know that the company is attracting experienced and ethical professionals to their management staff. We know that Geominex is real.
Funding has been “promised”, some funding has been received, and yet the question for which there is no immediate answer is when will the money arrive and when will they drill? Timing is everything. This project is now contingent upon this additional promised financing. Take a few hours to peruse the website and you’ll understand the excitement for the project.
Remember that EEGC has already spent over $40M AUS on the property in one form or another. Financing for all projects, especially now, especially in any exploration sector, has been extremely difficult for every company seeking to secure such funding. We have to take this single fact into consideration and realize how important it is to this project.
My sensing of the situation, based upon casual conversations with shareholders, is that management is indeed trying to nail down the finishing touches on this financing. I don’t know how much and couldn’t tell you if I did. But common sense dictates that the drilling company, Hunt Energy, would not be holding their position if they did not believe that soon they could begin their work. Yes, we’ve been waiting, but folks, this is a wildcat operation in a virgin basin in one of the worst economic environments in 300 years. Patience is mandatory regardless of how frustrated we all might be.
This project could turn out to be a home run or it could turn out to be a fizzle. I for one am sticking with it and as such it almost become an act of faith. I have a vested interest and I’m biased. I helped put the web site together and am helping with getting the story out. But I never take on a company that I wouldn’t put friends into. There have to be merits to the projects and of course I specialize in the gold investment sector. But my bias is centered mostly on the people I know who are involved with the project—both professionals and regular shareholders. There are a few heavily invested individuals in Empire who come from the island and who know this story inside out. I trust these locals because I’ve found out first hand that they are people of integrity. And yes, they too are frustrated and yes, they too are holding on. Due to the science, there is a strong feeling that oil will be found on this huge tenement.
Make your own decisions after reviewing the website and don’t get in over your head should you choose to become involved. But this project, should it live up to expectations, could possibly be something phenomenal.
This is a project you separate into two sections. The first part is the project itself—the virgin basin on shore in Tasmania where several major underground domes which may possibly contain hydrocarbons have been identified by way of 2-D seismic. The second part is the history of the company and the difficulties that have emerged as a fledging junior mining company fights to makes its way into the “big leagues”.
I will tell you one thing. There has been a tremendous amount of effort expended on the project to date. Whether the company has been run flawlessly is open to question although I know for a fact that some excellent people have given their all and then some to advance this effort. Visionaries do not always make the best managers but I believe in this particular situation that when the time comes, certain visionaries will give way for the best interests of the project and the shareholders. It is already happening and that takes a great deal of courage and commitment.
Everyone wants answers and they want them now. I wish I could give them to you but I dare not even make a conjecture.
I do believe that once the financial log jam breaks there may well be pleasant surprises ahead. In my estimation, that log jam is the funding. When that funding arrives, I believe the company will be drilling within weeks and the share price will reflect the break in the log jam. Yes, I know this is a bit ambiguous but the style is necessary. When the next steps evolve, we will be able to have the latitude to be more specific and the web site may well be reflecting videos that empirically prove that real progress is occurring.
I will do all in my power to tell the story accurately because the fundamental issues are solid and yet the “Bull Boards” are buzzing. I don’t want you to confuse my saying “nothing that you don’t already know” in this piece with something new. I simply want you to realize that while management is not “hyping” and “promoting”, they are working diligently behind the scenes to get the ball across the finish line. In actuality, they’ve been doing so for 18 months or better. Indeed, sometimes saying nothing is the best thing to do. However, you don’t want to confuse that with the idea that nothing is happening.
If and when the additional financing becomes a reality, we will all pull out the stops, work as a unit and let the drills do the talking. And of course, that being the case, we will continue to support a company that has taken a great deal of time, money, energy, and faith to get to this point.
Remember too, that the world still needs oil—even in an economic slowdown. Oil has been moving up towards $60US a barrel and the hydrocarbon fundamentals remain strong. That is not going to change overnight people.
And, by all means—do your own due diligence. Do visit their website at www.empireenergy.com. There is sufficient information to keep you busy for a least a few days.
D. Stewart Armstrong
Consultant to the Junior Mining Community
consulting@seacoastpub.com
www.seacoast-consulting.com
Posted by D.Stewart Armstrong in Articles