Friends of the Lubicon
PO Box 444 Stn D,
Etobicoke ON M9A 4X4
Tel: (416) 763-7500
Email: fol (at) tao (dot) ca
www.lubicon.ca
May 3, 2005
Deep Well Oil and Gas (DWOG) investors have been discussing developments with the proposed oil sands operation in Lubicon Lake Nation Traditional Territory in online chatrooms. Most are concerned that their Deep Well investment has been rapidly sinking in value as Deep Well's troubles multiply.
Their conversation is instructive.
On April 6, 2005, an anonymous Deep Well investor with the username "Medstar911" posted a question about the Deep Well project on the "Bullboards" web site:
"So with now the fact that we are heading into warm weather throughout alberta and saskatchewan, did Surge/DWOG ever actually start drilling? I question this because the ground of course is very soft and as I am aware they can only drill when hell freezes over."
On April 7, 2005, another anonymous Deep Well investor with the username "dowd" responded on the "Bullboards" web site apparently based on information he had received from the company.
"dowd" told investors:
"Here is what I have heard over the past 2 weeks: DWOG got the $1 million US bonus paid from [Surge Global Energy] and did a private (sic) at 40 cents to raise a little more. We will also get another million bonus when Surge drills well #2. We don't have to come up with ANY money until after 10 wells are drilled as I understand it ....
"Also, they cleared the land and moved part of the rig for well #1 but the local Indians showed up and wanted some money for whiskey and the cops had to be called. I think this slowed us down by 3 weeks but supposedly 'we are proceeding'. BTW, these Indians are claiming 1/2 of Alberta including [Blackrock Ventures Inc.'s wells] and everybody else's oil too. The federal and provincial governments have said they have no claim but drilling crews can get nervous when the Indians show up drunk with guns ....
"If we can drill one successful well we can begin to prove our 328 million barrels and will be on our way to $5 [a share]."
Later that day "dowd" told investors:
"I wish I knew when this stock would pop up but I don't. I think it moves on drilling. The company needs to do a news release about spud date. I was told that 'we are proceeding' but am not sure what that means exactly .... The Indian mafia are causing more of a delay than muddy roads I suspect. I am getting a little frustrated as [Blackrock Ventures Inc., another oil sands company operating near the Lubicon community at Little Buffalo] just keeps ramping up but that is why we can buy [Deep Well Oil and Gas] at 45 cents and BVI is $10. Once we drill we should go up and keep going higher with each well. Google search "deep well drilling and Lubicon" to read about the Indian mafia saga."
[We wonder how "dowd" would feel if it was his lands, his waters and his community being torn apart to please on-line investors from other parts of the world. We wonder if he would be so glibly racist about so-called "Indian mafia" if it were his children who had to grow up in the kind of conditions imposed upon the Lubicon people to satisfy the profit demands of oil and gas shareholders.]
[One also has to wonder what Deep Well is telling their investors about the Lubicon situation in private conversations. Presumably it was someone at Deep Well who told "dowd" that "drunk" Indians "with guns" came looking for "money for whiskey". "dowd" seems to attribute his information to the company and it's hard to fathom where else could he have received an update of that sort.]
"Kidder14" responded:
"Thanks for the google search info dowd, it provides a little bit more of the story as to why the drilling rig only got half moved in. Hopefully management meets with the Lubicons and offers them a piece of the construction work or some battery operator positions to help soothe over the tensions. It would sure be nice to get the first well drilled and cored. That would make the stock move."
On April 19 "jwalker2" wrote:
"I am wondering if the captain of this ship knows where to go or not. Not great news on the Lubricon (sic) thing and now some private company has a law suit .... What next for christs sakes!!!"
"CanLay" asked:
"What is going on? I was led to believe that IGM [the private company suing Deep Well] was gone - a mistress spurned? Seems timely for a [news release] to answer the legal questions published as I did some work for AEC (now Encana) with the Lubicon Metis in 1983. They, gov.ab, still have the mineral rights and have renewed the lands ever since gratis. Obviously, a subject not addressed by the government(s) ... which they avoid like a small, intermediate, plague. = chances are tough to be resolved. Ever notice? The Governments can pick a Pope faster?
"So," CanLay asks, "What is going on? Is it dead?
Good question. With the Deep Well project stalled on the ground, called on the carpet for breaching Alberta's oil and gas regulations, and being debated regularly in the Alberta Legislature, and with letters pouring in from Lubicon supporters around the world, major environmental organizations calling for a review of the project, a lawsuit from a former partner and now a major underwriter pulling out, one can hardly blame these investors for wondering just what the hell Deep Well is doing in the woods of northern Alberta.
Full text of these posts is available at:
http://www.stockhouse.com/bullboards/forum.asp?symbol=DWOG&table=LIST&all=0&t=0
fol-request at masses.tao.ca