Ann: Fremont Petroleum Corporation completes $1.7m Placement, page-69

Hi Auto,

A rare moment of disagreement for us on your opening gambit. I hold to the view that ZIRP made access to capital so cheap and providers willing to accept risk with pricing it properly, that any 2 bit company was able to set itself up as a shale E&P company. All the wildcatters knew was how to put money into the ground. Rocks matter. There are plenty of companies with a viable business at $45 oil. At $60 they more they thrive. If anything the largest "destructor" may be OSD and with their long capital cycle versus shale's short cycle I'm backing shale.

The resource sector is boom-bust-boom-bust ..... look at all the piddly failed iron ore companies, rare earths companies, lithium companies, .... maybe it really is a case of luck, timing and skill and don't mess with the order.

For many the lesson may well be, if you don't know what you are investing in, don't invest in it. "Oil's aint oils" and quality gap between companies is vast!