# OKCpedia > Businesses & Employers >  SandRidge Energy News

## blangtang

So SandRidge has a pissed off hedge-fund manager who is agitating for changes...

"On Friday, TPG-Axon fund manager Dinakar Singh sent a letter to SandRidges board asking for rules that could see directors removed immediately and without cause. *The move would help with clearing the way for the company to be sold, according to Bloomberg*."

"Analyst Duane Grubert at Susquehanna suggested *in a note Monday this shareholder push could pave the way for a sale, and named Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) as one potential suitor*. Grubert has a Positive rating and $12 price target for the stock."

SandRidge Up 3.5% Amid Shareholder Putsch - Stocks To Watch Today - Barrons.com

Anyone know whats going on here?

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## catch22

Sounds like things are getting turbulent....

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## OKCisOK4me

So what corporation is Sandridge beautying their downtown campus for? Phillips? Lol

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## dcsooner

After reading the notification sent to Sandridge's board of directors, even I with my limited knowledge of Corporate investing was convinced that Sandridge Mgmt may not be maximizing the shareholders investments. It appears not to be for a lack of assets but due to excessive executive pay, corporate campus development etc.  OKC companies outside of Devon appear to be run by energy executives that seem to always get local companies in a bind that leads to the potential for takeover or sale. Maybe local leaders starting companies is fine but running them past their infancy may need more adult leadership. Hasn't OKC learned? 5-10 years from now some well managed company will likely absorb both Chesapeake and Sandridge .

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## blangtang

> After reading the notification sent to Sandridge's board of directors, even I with my limited knowledge of Corporate investing was convinced that Sandridge Mgmt may not be maximizing the shareholders investments. It appears not to be for a lack of assets but due to excessive executive pay, corporate campus development etc.  OKC companies outside of Devon appear to be run by energy executives that seem to always get local companies in a bind that leads to the potential for takeover or sale. Maybe local leaders starting companies is fine but running them past their infancy may need more adult leadership. Hasn't OKC learned? 5-10 years from now some well managed company will likely absorb both Chesapeake and Sandridge .


I just got around to reading the letter, here are a couple things I found interesting:

"Prior to the IPO in 2007 (when expenses were actually borne by Mr Ward), the company owned one old and small jet and two old propeller airplanes to transport executives and workers. Once shareholders were bearing the cost, Mr Ward decided to upgrade – now the company has four jets (two of which are large size intercontinental jets, and one of which is one of the most expensive jets in the market), and over 15 full time employees dedicated to maintaining and flying these jets."

"*The company spends massive amounts of money on real estate in Oklahoma City – far in excess of what would be sensibly needed* (and including many fully-owned buildings, and real estate development projects). We cannot explain the enormous number of employees the company has at headquarters (almost 700), and it is remarkable that the company has doubled the number of general employees at its Oklahoma City headquarters over the past five years. Yet, the company appears to have real estate assets and investments far in excess of what would be needed even by this number of employees."

"And, despite the challenges this year, the company decided (this spring) that Mr Ward needed a better plane, and purchased a Falcon 900EX for his exclusive business and personal use. For reference, the Falcon 900EX is one of the most expensive private business jets made, with new list price of over $35 million, and flying range of almost 6,000 miles. Given that every employee and asset of the company is within a 500 mile radius of headquarters, it seems obvious that a $35 million plane with 6,000 flying mile range is for CEO gratification, not business necessity."

"Therefore, we believe the following steps would have to be taken:

• Drastically reduce overhead and waste: The company should dramatically reduce the extravagance and waste that has led to extraordinary levels of overhead for the company. We believe it would be not just possible, but necessary,* to reduce overhead by 75%.* Unless this is done, the ‘tax’ on shareholders will simply be too great over time, and value will continue to be destroyed. Compensation for remaining employees should be reduced to sensible levels. *Extraneous assets (planes, buildings, etc.) should be sold.* Extraneous expenses should be terminated (personal payments, advertising, luxury suites, etc.). Overall, the company should seek to emerge as one of the leanest and most efficient companies in the industry, in keeping with the focused and concentrated nature of its assets."

----

So, it sounds like the hedge fund likes the energy properties, but wants to get rid of Mr Ward and his directors, and cut all the bloat (planes, buildings, luxury suites, etc.).  

they even created a website! 

LETTERS TO MANAGEMENT | Shareholders For Sandridge

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## Bellaboo

I know that when they got the old KM properties, they ended up with a lot of property along Broadway. Maybe these would be considered excessive ? I personally don't know much about their business, but i'm invested in SDT.

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## catch22

Shareholders file fraud lawsuit against SandRidge Energy | NewsOK.com


....

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## OklahomaNick

Has anyone seen the ad on NewsOK?

It says, "SandRidge Stock Holders Click Here"

Shareholders For Sandridge

IMPORTANT NOTICE

This website may contain forward-looking statements. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the words “expects,” “intends,” “believes,” “anticipates” and other terms with similar meaning indicating possible future events or actions relating to the business or stockholders of SandRidge Energy, Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE: SD). These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the ability of TPG-Axon Management, LP, TPG-Axon Partners GP, L.P., TPG-Axon GP, LLC, TPG-Axon Partners, LP, TPG-Axon International, L.P., TPG-Axon International GP, LLC, Dinakar Singh LLC, and Dinakar Singh (collectively, “TPG-Axon”) and any other participants in the solicitation of written consents from the Company’s stockholders (collectively, the “Participants”) to successfully solicit sufficient consents to amend the by-laws of the Company to, among other things, de-stagger the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) and permit the removal of directors with or without cause, remove incumbent directors from the Board, and replace such incumbent directors with nominees of TPG-Axon who are capable of improving the Company’s performance and maximizing stockholder value, through a consent solicitation. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results.
This website may be deemed to constitute solicitation material and is intended solely to inform stockholders so that they may make an informed decision regarding the intended consent solicitation.

TPG-AXON INTENDS TO FILE WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (THE “SEC”) A DEFINITIVE CONSENT STATEMENT AND ACCOMPANYING CONSENT CARD TO BE USED TO SOLICIT WRITTEN CONSENTS FROM THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY IN CONNECTION WITH TPG-AXON’S INTENT TO TAKE CORPORATE ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT. ALL STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE ADVISED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE CONSENT STATEMENT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE SOLICITATION OF WRITTEN CONSENTS BY THE PARTICIPANTS FROM THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY, WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCLUDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO THE PARTICIPANTS. WHEN COMPLETED, THE DEFINITIVE CONSENT STATEMENT AND FORM OF WRITTEN CONSENT WILL BE FURNISHED TO SOME OR ALL OF THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY AND WILL, ALONG WITH OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS, BE AVAILABLE AT NO CHARGE ON THIS WEBSITE AND ON THE SEC’S WEBSITE AT HTTP://WWW.SEC.GOV. IN ADDITION, TPG-AXON WILL PROVIDE COPIES OF THE DEFINITIVE CONSENT STATEMENT AND ACCOMPANYING CONSENT CARD (WHEN AVAILABLE) WITHOUT CHARGE UPON REQUEST. REQUESTS FOR COPIES SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO THE PARTICIPANTS’ CONSENT SOLICITOR, MACKENZIE PARTNERS, INC., TOLL-FREE AT (800) 322-2885 OR VIA EMAIL AT PROXY@MACKENZIEPARTNERS.COM.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE CURRENT PARTICIPANTS AND A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR DIRECT OR INDIRECT INTERESTS BY SECURITY HOLDINGS IS CONTAINED IN EXHIBIT 2 TO THE SCHEDULE 14A FILED BY TPG-AXON WITH THE SEC ON NOVEMBER 30, 2012. THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE OBTAINED FREE OF CHARGE FROM THE SOURCES INDICATED ABOVE.

The current participants in the intended consent solicitation are TPG-Axon Management, LP, TPG-Axon Partners GP, L.P., TPG-Axon GP, LLC, TPG-Axon Partners, LP, TPG-Axon International, L.P., TPG-Axon International GP, LLC, Dinakar Singh LLC, and Dinakar Singh. As of the close of business on December 4, 2012, TPG-Axon was a beneficial owner of 6.5% of the outstanding shares of the Company.
This communication is not a solicitation of a consent, which may be done only pursuant to a definitive consent statement.

I AGREE
I have read and agree to the terms of this web site

I DISAGREE
You will not gain access to this web site without agreeing to the terms of this web site

__________________________________________________  _______________________________

Apparently TPG-Axon is getting VERY aggressive with their calling to sell the company.
What are everyone's thoughts?

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## adaniel

It would be a mistake to dismiss their complaints as sour grapes. Their stock price hasn't had the greatest year (although a lot of energy stocks have had a so-so year) so I would have to think some of their stockholders are getting a little ancy. 

They have a lot of "poison pill" type bylaws, so a hostile takeover is unlikely, but I have to think that Tom Ward's seat is a little hot. At the very least you will see some big changes coming to the board in the future. 

SD is by most measures a very solid company and is starting to become to the Mississippian play what Continental was to the Bakken. So I hope for them and OKC that they get their governance issues in order.

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## 1972ford

The recent decision by the feds to price crude at international rates should help them dramatically too bad it was a little late cheasapeake could have made more off their asset sales had they changed the pricing sooner

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## Pete

SandRidge Energy, Inc. Agrees to Sell Permian Assets for $2.6 Billion In Cash
Press Release: SandRidge Energy, Inc. – 28 minutes ago

OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SandRidge Energy, Inc. (SD) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Permian Basin properties to Sheridan Production Partners II, a privately held Houston-based oil and gas company, for $2.6 billion in cash.  SandRidge announced on November 8 that it was exploring the sale of the assets. 

Tom Ward, SandRidge's Chairman and CEO, commented, "This is a great outcome for our shareholders.  The sale of the Permian assets at this time has allowed us to capitalize on current strong valuations for mature, conventional Permian assets and generate a very strong return on our investment there."

Noting that the Permian Basin assets were a key part of SandRidge's planned strategic transition from a natural gas producer to an oil rich E&P company, Ward added, "With these proceeds we will have a cash balance of almost $3 billion and liquidity of over $3.5 billion, which we intend to use to reduce debt and strengthen the balance sheet.  This will also allow us to fund development of our acreage position as well as future opportunities in the highly scalable, high return Mississippian Play."

Ward continued, "We are excited about focusing our efforts on the Mississippian, which encompasses parts of northern Oklahoma and western Kansas, an area we believe generates some of the highest rates of return for horizontal drilling in the U.S. today.  With 1.85 million net acres and 11,000 possible future drilling locations, the Company is the industry leader in the region.  We also have a unique advantage because of extensive investments in critical infrastructure that make our operating costs there among the lowest in the industry.  With the sale of the Permian assets, we will significantly reduce our debt balances and, with our ample cash and liquidity, be very well positioned to fund our capital expenditures through 2014 and deliver significant value to stockholders."

The Permian properties being sold were producing approximately 24,500 Boe per day at the end of the third quarter (67% oil, 15% NGLs and 18% natural gas) and exclude assets associated with SandRidge Permian Trust (PER). 

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2013, subject to customary closing conditions, and will have an effective date of January 1, 2013. Additionally, revised 2013 operational guidance for SandRidge will be issued upon the closing of the sale. RBC Richardson Barr and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors to the Company in connection with the transaction. The buyer of the assets, Sheridan Production Partners II, is the second series of Sheridan funds established for the management and ongoing development of mature producing oil and gas properties.

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## HangryHippo

Is this a fire sale like what CHK is having to do?

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## Pete

Interesting to note that Ward only owns 5% of the SD stock so like Aubrey McClendon, has ultimately very little power if the board decides to shake things up.


TPG-Axon Accuses SandRidge CEO Ward and Son of Impropriety
By David Wethe - Dec 24, 2012 11:41 AM PT

TPG-Axon Capital Management LP, owner of 6.7 percent of SandRidge Energy Inc. (SD)’s outstanding shares, requested the company’s board investigate whether Chief Executive Officer Tom Ward and his son acted improperly with regard to acquiring mineral rights.

Ward and his son, Trent Ward, acquired mineral rights from third parties and then leased those rights to Oklahoma City- based SandRidge “just weeks or months later” for profit, TPG- Axon said in a letter sent to the company’s board today. Greg Dewey, a spokesman for SandRidge, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

“It is our understanding that Mr. Ward and his son, Trent Ward, actively compete with the company, and in addition, have also engaged in repeated transactions in which they ‘front-run’ the company,” Dinakar Singh, chief executive officer of TPG- Axon, wrote in the letter.

SandRidge has disclosed several transactions with Ward in its annual federal filing in March, including that it bought a working interest in leases from WCT Resources LLC, which is owned by trusts that are for the benefit of the CEO’s children.

TPG-Axon sued Sandridge and its directors today in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington, asking a judge to stop any interference by Sandridge and to extend the start of the 60-day period of consent solicitation.

TPG-Axon has previously called for a shareholder vote on replacing SandRidge’s board of directors.

Ward founded SandRidge after leaving Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) in 2006 and owns 5.2 percent of the company’s shares, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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## metro

With SD and CHK in shareholder trouble, anyone worrie about us being able to support the Thunder?

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## LakeEffect

> With SD and CHK in shareholder trouble, anyone worrie about us being able to support the Thunder?


No, but I might worry.

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## catch22

SandRidge lays off employees after sale | NewsOK.com

Few layoffs..

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## okcfollower

hopefully anyone who lost their job can go down the road 2 blocks southish to either Devon or Continental where the management is sound and not have to worry about what they dealt with at Sandridge. Hope this is the only layoff to come to Sandridge though.

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## blangtang

RPT-REFILE-INSIGHT-How SandRidge Energy's CEO adapted the Chesapeake playbook | Reuters 

 "How SandRidge Energy's CEO adapted the Chesapeake playbook"

..edited...

SandRidge CEO's pay is among highest in energy industry | NewsOK.com

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## Pete

Wanted to post the full Reuters article -- this is by the same reporters that have been hammering Chesapeake:


REFILE-INSIGHT-How SandRidge Energy's CEO adapted the Chesapeake playbook
Mon Jan 14, 2013 1:56pm EST
By Michael Erman and Anna Driver and Brian Grow

Jan 14 (Reuters) - For 17 years, Tom Ward and Aubrey McClendon teamed up to build Chesapeake Energy Corp into the second-largest natural gas producer in the United States.

The two Oklahoma City energy men were a study in contrasts. CEO McClendon was brash and aggressive; company president Ward came across as steady and soft-spoken.

When Ward left in 2006 to start his own natural-gas company a few miles away, however, he borrowed from the Chesapeake playbook. At SandRidge Energy Inc, Ward adopted some of the same idiosyncratic business practices deployed by McClendon.

At Chesapeake, McClendon intertwined his personal financial deals with the company he runs.

Similarly, Ward has melded his own financial interests with those of publicly traded SandRidge more than many of the company's shareholders may know, an examination of court documents, Oklahoma state records and Securities and Exchange Commission filings shows.

Like McClendon, Ward has faced criticism from shareholders and others for running a public company like a private firm, drawing large paychecks and bonuses even during periods when his company struggled.

*In 2008, Ward received personal loans from the chairman of Bank of Oklahoma - one of SandRidge's key lenders. He also took the unusual step of opening the company's books for the lender's review of that personal deal. The mixing of personal and corporate roles posed a potential conflict of interest for the CEO, analysts say.*

Now, the question is whether Ward will be forced to change his ways as McClendon was earlier this year, when shareholders shook up Chesapeake's board and stripped him of his job as chairman following a series of Reuters reports. On Monday, Chesapeake said it was not awarding McClendon, who remains CEO, a bonus for 2012.

*Two large SandRidge shareholders - hedge fund TPG-Axon Capital and investment firm Mount Kellett Capital - have been pressing to replace Ward and the board and to put the company up for sale.*

"There is constant intermingling of the personal and the private" between the CEO and SandRidge's business, said Dinakar Singh, founder of TPG-Axon, which owns 6.7 percent of SandRidge.

Greg Dewey, a spokesman for SandRidge, declined to respond to questions from Reuters on Ward's transactions or on any similarities between SandRidge and Chesapeake. But he stressed that "in each case, we have followed our own internal guidelines and we know the (Securities and Exchange Commission) rules very well and have followed those."

In addition to borrowing $75 million from Bank of Oklahoma's chairman, *Ward also collected $67 million from SandRidge by selling back his personal interests in a controversial corporate perk: stakes in the company's wells. McClendon, too, had a similar incentive at Chesapeake.*

*SandRidge has also paid nearly $28 million more to Ward or firms linked to him or his family*, according to SEC filings. (SEE FACTBOX)

*Those payments are in addition to the more than $116 million Ward has received in compensation as CEO since 2007. Between 2007 and 2011, Ward made more than $7 million more than the two men who served as CEO of Chevron, a company more than 60 times the size of SandRidge* by market capitalization. (Compensation data for 2012 is not yet available for Chevron.) Ward's pay included $4.2 million for accounting services related to his personal and family finances.

In each case, SandRidge disclosed the benefits that Ward has drawn, and nothing is illegal about the compensation packages. But some analysts and shareholders question why Ward earns so much, given the company's size and stock price. As natural gas prices plummeted, SandRidge shares fell from a high of $69 in July 2008 to about $7 today.

Some corporate-governance experts don't see a problem. "As long as it's disclosed, I think it's fine," said David Larcker, an accounting professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

Others say Ward's transactions raise questions about how SandRidge is being run and create the risk he is putting his own interests ahead of the company's.

"The number of related-party transactions (SandRidge) reports is out of proportion to the size of the company," says Paul Hodgson, an independent corporate-governance consultant.

Ward's compensation has drawn the attention of California pension fund CalSTRs, which owns 880,000 SandRidge shares and is in talks with the company over executive pay.

"We believe that compensation at this point is too high relative to the stock performance," said CalSTRS spokesman Ricardo Duran. "Our standard throughout our portfolio is to, wherever possible, link executive compensation to performance. We feel that standard's not being met."

PARALLEL PATHS

Ward and McClendon, who began working together in their 20s, co-founded Chesapeake in 1989 with 10 employees and $50,000 in cash. The two Oklahoma natives were "land men," traveling back roads to lease promising acreage for drilling.

Ward, 53, grew up in the tiny town of Seiling, Oklahoma. He became Chesapeake's operational brain. McClendon, born into the state's wealthy Kerr family, became its financial wizard.

Chesapeake prospered by being first to snap up acreage in emerging oil and gas plays.

For years at Chesapeake, Ward and McClendon enjoyed an unusual corporate incentive. They received up to a 2.5 percent stake in the profits of every well the company drilled, as long as they paid 2.5 percent of the costs.

Chesapeake had disclosed the existence of this perk. But last year, Reuters reported significant facts that Chesapeake hadn't divulged: McClendon had arranged to borrow more than $1 billion to finance his acquisition of these well stakes, used the stakes themselves as collateral, and obtained most of the financing from a company that was also an investor in Chesapeake. In response to the resulting outcry, the company cut short the perk.

Ward left Chesapeake in early 2006 to begin his own firm, buying into a private energy company in Texas. He renamed that company SandRidge Energy and took it public the following year.

At SandRidge, Ward initiated a more-lucrative version of the perk, raising the maximum stake to 3 percent, as disclosed in SEC filings.

A Reuters review of SEC filings and court documents shows Ward's well perk at SandRidge provided a safety net when he faced a severe personal financial crunch.

By 2008, Ward had borrowed heavily from Wachovia and other lenders. He had pledged holdings of SandRidge stock as collateral for those loans. When the global financial crisis struck, those shares plunged in value. According to documents filed in 2010 shareholder lawsuit against SandRidge, Ward's lenders issued a so-called margin call, which typically requires a borrower to put up more cash or face the liquidation of his collateral.

In October 2008, Ward raised cash by selling his stakes in SandRidge wells back to the company for $67 million, according to SEC filings. A Reuters analysis of costs incurred by Ward between 2006 and 2008 for the well program show he made an estimated $19 million on the deal.

The payout to the CEO came at a time when SandRidge was itself in financial distress. By the end of 2008, the company had just $636,000 in cash on hand, according to the company's annual report.

KAISER TO THE RESCUE

Despite the big payout, Ward wasn't out of the woods. The same month, he did another deal that potentially mingled his personal and corporate interests, this time with George Kaiser, chairman and majority shareholder of BOK Financial, parent company of Bank of Oklahoma.

Kaiser's Bank of Oklahoma has been a lender to SandRidge and was recently among a group that entered into a $1.75 billion credit agreement with the energy company, according to an SEC filing.

Kaiser did not respond to several requests for comment for this story.

In a suit filed in federal court in Oklahoma in December 2010, a SandRidge shareholder alleged that Ward improperly profited from a series of transactions with Kaiser.

Those transactions, Ward's attorneys wrote in response to the suit, came at a time when the SandRidge chief "was facing unexpected economic difficulties." This crunch, they wrote, involved "an upcoming repayment obligation on a credit line with Wachovia Bank and other creditors that was secured, in part, by Mr. Ward's SandRidge stock."

At the time, Ward had pledged at least 25 million SandRidge shares as collateral for a personal credit line from Wachovia and others, according to an SEC filing. The filing did not say how large the loan was, or what it was needed for. But the SandRidge shares were worth about $45 apiece, or some $1.1 billion in total when he pledged them to the banks in August 2008. By late October, the shares had fallen to less than $10, or around $240 million in total.

As the shares plunged in value, the lenders called on Ward to post more collateral. That same October, he turned to Kaiser, borrowing $75 million from him and a charitable trust Kaiser controlled. The deal gave Kaiser warrants granting him the right to buy a substantial interest in SandRidge, using shares then owned by Ward, according to an SEC filing.

SandRidge stock continued to fall between October and December 2008. Ward realized he would need to renegotiate the terms of the $75 million loan from Kaiser, according to a court document filed by Ward's attorneys.

The revised deal, renegotiated on Christmas Eve in Tulsa, was complex. It included the payment to Kaiser of 8.9 million SandRidge shares, worth some $50 million at the time, and a warrant giving Kaiser the right to buy more shares in the future.

It also came with an unusual condition. Ward agreed to open SandRidge's financial records to Kaiser, to "facilitate (Kaiser's) due diligence investigation of the issuer for a limited period of time following the sale," according to the deal's agreement.

James Cox, a law professor at Duke University, said he has never come across another situation in which a public company's books and records were opened as part of a private deal.

"Access is being provided for no apparent corporate purpose," Cox said.

The shareholder and SandRidge agreed to dismiss the suit on Nov. 9, 2012, court documents show. The company later disclosed that Ward agreed the same day to pay SandRidge $5 million to settle a lawsuit. It declined to say whether the payment was related to the Kaiser suit.

Lingering anger over SandRidge's big 2008 payout to Ward is one reason some shareholders say they have recently called for the CEO's ouster.

Ward and SandRidge are fighting back. On Nov. 19, the company's board unanimously approved resolutions that make it more difficult for the company to be taken over.

Now, hedge fund TPG-Axon is soliciting support from other shareholders to replace the board. No deadline has been set for that solicitation. TPG-Axon hasn't said how much support it has garnered so far.

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## metro

Not good

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## okcfollower

I see the difference between Chk and Sd in that Chk is large enough and has ways of surviving thought this while I'm not sure SD will have enough resources to survive this tough time.

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## adaniel

SD is in much better shape that CHK as it it has has positive cash flow, isn't as nearly as dependent on low priced gas, and has an annual operating profit, so far at least.

Of course that doesn't make Tom Ward's actions any less excusable.

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## blangtang

Sandridge fights back and trash talks the hedge fund, this was funny to read

SANDRIDGE ENERGY, INC. FILES DEFINITIVE CONSENT REVOCATION MATERIALS AND SENDS LETTER TO STOCKHOLDERS - SD - BoardVote

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## Just the facts

> TPG-Axon is a New York-based hedge fund that:
> 
> •was formed by the former co-head of Goldman Sachs' proprietary trading department;


That says it all.

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## lasomeday

> That says it all.


Is that a bad thing?  They have people with investing experience that know when companies are doing shady things and spending money frivilously.

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## Bellaboo

> *Is that a bad thing*?  They have people with investing experience that know when companies are doing shady things and spending money frivilously.


Goldman Sachs were the extreme crooked guys during the financial crisis.

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## Rover

> Is that a bad thing?  They have people with investing experience that know when companies are doing shady things and spending money frivilously.


Many of these people have never operated or built anything.  They are paper experts.  Their accusations may be true, but they should not be taken at face value either.  most are not interested in growing companies and could care less about collateral damage.

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## soonerguru

> Goldman Sachs were the extreme crooked guys during the financial crisis.


Goldman Sachs and a cast of thousands. They are not alone. Most of the major banks were perpetrating investment fraud and screwing the country.

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## Just the facts

> Goldman Sachs and a cast of thousands. They are not alone. Most of the major banks were perpetrating investment fraud and screwing the country.


...and they are trying to make a quick buck to get some more.  I find it interesting the Congress banned Goldman Sachs (and other banks) from performing the very business Dinakar Singh was in charge of at Goldman Sachs.

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## 1972ford

If the they had the shares during the financial crisis the hedgefund might have a legitamate reason to replace directors but they have only had the shares since early 2012 seems to me they saw a good asset base with an undervalued company and see the a good return on investment if the company is sold this fund is focused on short term returns instead of long term quality.  Hopefully SD has a majority of their shareholders in it the long haul

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## HangryHippo

Umm, no. Goldman Sachs knows little to nothing about wise investing to combat shady dealings and frivolous spending. Did you read any news during the financial crisis?

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## lasomeday

I have and they are the only bank still standing!  I don't know where you guys have been, but they hedged against the bad loans.  You guys need to do your own research!  They are the only bank whose stock didn't crash.

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## onthestrip

Well it doesnt look like Tom Ward has learned much from Aubrey's ouster. Maybe Tom and Aubrey can team up again once hes gone from Sandridge.

Exclusive: SandRidge gives CEO wide scope to cut his own land deals | Reuters

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## Pete

Oh-oh.

Brian Grow and Anna Driver from Reuters almost single-handedly brought down Aubrey McClendon through a series of scathing investigative reports.  They were the ones that broke the news on his billion dollar loans, price collusion, etc.

Now they seem to have turned their attention to Tom Ward.  He seems to have followed a similar path as AKM.  This will be more fuel for the fire of shareholder revolt that has started to brew at SD.

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## HangryHippo

I'm curious, do these two writers have personal vendettas against Oklahoma City?  Why the crusade?  Surely AKM and Tom Ward aren't the only two leaders out there doing these things.

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## Pete

They cover other stories, they were just drawn into the Chesapeake thing and then the SandRidge story is very similar so it makes sense they would jump on that as well.

The shareholders at both companies should be thankful that someone found out the details otherwise this would have continued on unabated.  In the end, I think Chesapeake will be stronger and it remains to be seen about SD.

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## HangryHippo

Just nerve-wracking to watch two of our important employers undergo such scrutiny.  But the management brought this upon themselves, so this could have all been easily avoided.  Maybe that's the most troubling aspect.

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## OKCTalker

I'm not generally a big fan of the fourth estate, especially since anyone with a keyboard and Internet access considers himself a "journalist," but we are benefit when the press uncovers things like this.

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## onthestrip

> I'm curious, do these two writers have personal vendettas against Oklahoma City?  Why the crusade?  Surely AKM and Tom Ward aren't the only two leaders out there doing these things.


I'd say they probably are. Im not 100% sure but i doubt many other energy companies are allowing their CEOs to personally invest in wells, allow CEO owned LLCs to buy leases that in turn flip to the CEOs company, or have a well paid board decide to pay the CEO of a small and low performing company $70mil over 3 years.

At first I blew off the new york shareholder groups claims about sandridge but after reading up on it it becomes pretty clear that Ward is behaving no different than Aubrey, maybe even worse. Hell, Ward made $280k last year from sandridge just by selling his own "personal" thunder tickets back to sandridge.

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## Pete

Don't forget both CHK and SD allowed their CEO's to run personal energy hedge funds while helming their companies.

Haven't heard of anyone else permitting that, either.

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## ou48A

> I'm curious, do these two writers have personal vendettas against Oklahoma City?  Why the crusade?  Surely AKM and Tom Ward aren't the only two leaders out there doing these things.



When you’re flamboyant with big money you’re always going to make yourself an easier target for the liberal media to go after. 
This is even more true when there are energy companies involved

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## SharkSandwich

The Jig Is Up For The CEO Of Sandridge Energy - Seeking Alpha

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## Pete

Holy cats, that's scathing about Tom Ward.

It's starting to look like he's done just about the same things as McClendon and might meet the same fate.

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## HangryHippo

My god, what is with these two?  Couldn't they just have been pleased to be heading large, successful O&G companies without everything else...?

----------


## bretthexum

> When you’re flamboyant with big money you’re always going to make yourself an easier target for the liberal media to go after. 
> This is even more true when there are energy companies involved


I think it's less about the "liberal media" and more about these 2 egomaniacs thinking they can do whatever they want with the shareholders money.  They can go private and do whatever the hell they want with their cash.  If they are a publicly traded company they will be scrutinized over and over.  Especially when they pull boneheaded stupidity like this.

----------


## dankrutka

> When you’re flamboyant with big money you’re always going to make yourself an easier target for the liberal media to go after. 
> This is even more true when there are energy companies involved


How about taking responsibility for actions & quit blaming others? I thought that's what conservatives believe in. You notice that you're not dealing with the issue, but using the phantom "liberal media" to not address it. Pathetic. If solid reporting is now what you call the "liberal media" then that's not good news. 

While AM and TW have done great things for OKC, they've been highly irresponosible to their shareholders.

----------


## ou48A

> How about taking responsibility for actions & quit blaming others? I thought that's what conservatives believe in. You notice that you're not dealing with the issue, but using the phantom "liberal media" to not address it. Pathetic. If solid reporting is now what you call the "liberal media" then that's not good news. 
> 
> While AM and TW have done great things for OKC, they've been highly irresponosible to their shareholders.



By being flamboyant with big money they have been highly irresponsible to their shareholders.
Anybody who is flamboyant with big money makes them self’s a bigger target.
By being so flamboyant with big money anybody watching had to know it they would eventually become over extended and that it would end in a train wreck even if NG stayed fairly high.

You would have to be hiding under a rock to not know that when big energy is flamboyant with big money and when it ends in  a train wreck the liberal media is going to exploit it much more than they would if it was an industry that fits their idea of a good industry. 
The energy industry is often not covered responsibly by the liberal media…. but that doesn’t excuse any wrong doing and irresponsible behavior to shareholders. But a responsible media would have been on top of this flamboyant story years ago. 
But in OKC, to often, one hand often washes the other and a lot of problems fester.

----------


## ou48A

Those of us who have been paying attention have known for years about some of TW & AKM unconventional and flamboyant methods….. I first learned about them in year 2000 and as a result I stay away from being a shareholder of either company and I encourage others that I knew to stay away as well. 
The biggest reason why I stayed away was because they were flamboyant with big money.
Flamboyant actions by CEO’s are always an indication to stay away.

----------


## ljbab728

> The energy industry is often not covered responsibly by the liberal media…. but that doesn’t excuse any wrong doing and irresponsible behavior to shareholders. But a responsible media would have been on top of this flamboyant story years ago. 
> But in OKC, to often, one hand often washes the other and a lot of problems fester.


Surely you're not accusing the Oklahoman of being liberal.  LOL

----------


## ou48A

Tom Ward Of SandRidge Energy: Another CEO That's Got To Go - Forbes

Like another crosstown oil and gas exploration company based in Oklahoma City, Sandridge Energy (SD) is exhibiting the same shareholder inimical corporate governance practices.  The good news is the* abusive reign* of Chesapeake Energy (CHK) king Aubrey McClendon last week came to an abrupt end. The bad news is that SandRidge founder and CEO Tom Ward (also a CHK co-founder) continues presiding unchecked as an autocrat.

 Like at CHK, Mr. Ward instituted his own analogue version of Aubrey’s Founders Well Participation Program (FWPP), the Sandridge Executive Well Participation Program (SEWPP). While Aubrey got to cherry pick and invest in a 2.5% interest in CHK wells, Mr. Ward felt even more generosity towards himself, upping his take to 3%. Like Aubrey in the past, Mr. Ward is obscenely overpaid. * Mr. Ward presides over a sycophantic board that obsequiously bows to Caesars commands.* 

Thanks in large part to the activism of Carl Icahn, Chesapeake, being free of Aubrey and most of his cabal of board members now has a chance to “right the ship” and create value for shareholders. Now come along hedge fund TPG-Axon and CEO Dinakar Singh. Mr. Singh’s hedge fund has acquired a 6.7% stake in the common shares of SandRidge and has undertaken a “consent solicitation” to replace the entire Sandridge board and the subsequent ouster of Mr. Ward.

Sandridge laughably claims the TPG-Axon director slate lacks requisite energy experience.  Each of the seven potential directors have held high positions at companies like BP, El Paso Eastern Pipeline, Oryx Energy or currently serve on boards of major NYSE companies such as Kraft Foods and AOL. The only commonality of current Sandridge board of directors is a blind obeisance to a CEO who compensates each one around $375,000 annually or for perspective, $80 to $90,000 more than is received by directors of integrated giant Exxon-Mobil, a company over 130 times its market capitalization. Put another way, in just a little more than every two days, Exxon takes in more in revenue than the entire market cap of Sandridge.

----------


## soonerguru

> When you’re flamboyant with big money you’re always going to make yourself an easier target for the liberal media to go after. 
> This is even more true when there are energy companies involved


You obviously know a great deal about the energy industry, so I'm not trying to demean you in any way, but since when is Forbes part of the "liberal media?" What a ridiculous comment owing almost entirely to your slanted Republican worldview of everything. 

Steve Forbes, Mr. Flat Tax, is a died in the wool Republican. Forbes is perhaps the most prominent business magazine and tied at the hip with Wall Street. Liberal? That is absurd. 

The fact that numerous media organizations, including Rupert Murdoch's own Wall Street Journal have weighed in on Aubrey's shenanigans, shoots even more holes in your "liberal media" paranoia.

Do you wait until Fox News reports on something before you choose to put stock in the information?

If Forbes Magazine is now considered liberal by "conservatives" such as yourself then the "conservatives" in this country have truly gone off the deep end.

----------


## soonerguru

On another note, if the SD stock is trading at $5.79 a share, is it time to buy?

----------


## ou48A

> You obviously know a great deal about the energy industry, so I'm not trying to demean you in any way, but since when is Forbes part of the "liberal media?" What a ridiculous comment owing almost entirely to your slanted Republican worldview of everything. 
> 
> Steve Forbes, Mr. Flat Tax, is a died in the wool Republican. Forbes is perhaps the most prominent business magazine and tied at the hip with Wall Street. Liberal? That is absurd. 
> 
> The fact that numerous media organizations, including Rupert Murdoch's own Wall Street Journal have weighed in on Aubrey's shenanigans, shoots even more holes in your "liberal media" paranoia.
> 
> Do you wait until Fox News reports on something before you choose to put stock in the information?
> 
> If Forbes Magazine is now considered liberal by "conservatives" such as yourself then the "conservatives" in this country have truly gone off the deep end.


Our media is mostly liberal…. Studies of their voting records prove this beyond doubt.
Rather you or anyone else cares enough to be informed well enough to know this basic fact about our media, that’s another story. 

The fact that I would post something this critical of the energy industry that came from Forbes Magazine shows that your view of what I think is obviously not very well grounded in facts. I am more interested in truth and accuracy than anything else no matter the source… Just because I can’t stand Obama and what the dem party has done to the nation doesn’t mean that I am conservative on every issue… I actually consistently score fairly close to the center on politic views test…. It’s far more likely that you and others are so far to the extreme left that you think the center (where I am) is radical.

The problems with SD & CHK have been many years in the making…. I have known to stay away from CHK since year 2000. If I have known this why hasn’t the media not really covered this story until the last several years? Where have they been? They are very late!
 Many times what we hear from our media is often fundamentally flawed reporting, a product of a mostly liberal media and our journalism schools.

----------


## soonerguru

> Our media is mostly liberal…. Studies of their voting records prove this beyond doubt.
> Rather you or anyone else cares enough to be informed well enough to know this basic fact about our media, that’s another story. 
> 
> The fact that I would post something this critical of the energy industry that came from Forbes Magazine shows that your view of what I think is obviously not very well grounded in facts. I am more interested in truth and accuracy than anything else no matter the source… Just because I can’t stand Obama and what the dem party has done to the nation doesn’t mean that I am conservative on every issue… I actually consistently score fairly close to the center on politic views test…. It’s far more likely that you and others are so far to the extreme left that you think the center (where I am) is radical.
> 
> The problems with SD & CHK have been many years in the making…. I have known to stay away from CHK since year 2000. If I have known this why hasn’t the media not really covered this story until the last several years? Where have they been? They are very late!
>  Many times what we hear from our media is often fundamentally flawed reporting, a product of a mostly liberal media and our journalism schools.


I don't think our J schools are to blame. I got a journalism degree and most media, left, right and center, are not doing their jobs in line with my training. 

Also, most media ownership is conservative, and the owners set the terms in how media is framed, regardless of a reporters personal biases. I do know many journalists out there who may lean a certain way politically who will yet set their views aside to be fair. It's called being professional.

The Oklahoman covered none of this Chesapeake stuff until multiple national outlets reported it. No one would accuse them of being liberal!

----------


## dankrutka

> Our media is mostly liberal…. Studies of their voting records prove this beyond doubt.
> Rather you or anyone else cares enough to be informed well enough to know this basic fact about our media, that’s another story. 
> 
> The fact that I would post something this critical of the energy industry that came from Forbes Magazine shows that your view of what I think is obviously not very well grounded in facts. I am more interested in truth and accuracy than anything else no matter the source… Just because I can’t stand Obama and what the dem party has done to the nation doesn’t mean that I am conservative on every issue… I actually consistently score fairly close to the center on politic views test…. It’s far more likely that you and others are so far to the extreme left that you think the center (where I am) is radical.


Liberals are also better educated. Do you want journalists without college degrees?

----------


## zookeeper

Where did Tom Ward learn to make a mockery of capitalism by taking advantage of OPM? Yep, Chesapeake. Can we be surprised?

----------


## ou48A

> Liberals are also better educated. Do you want journalists without college degrees?



Many National TV reporters have worked for democratic White Houses. 
Do you like your TV news with this liberal biased?

----------


## ou48A

> I don't think our J schools are to blame. I got a journalism degree and most media, left, right and center, are not doing their jobs in line with my training. 
> 
> Also, most media ownership is conservative, and the owners set the terms in how media is framed, regardless of a reporters personal biases. I do know many journalists out there who may lean a certain way politically who will yet set their views aside to be fair. It's called being professional.
> 
> The Oklahoman covered none of this Chesapeake stuff until multiple national outlets reported it. No one would accuse them of being liberal!


If the media is  not doing their jobs in line with my training then if J schools are not to be blamed then what is it.? 
We certainly saw how thrilled several TV reporters were during Obama's second inauguration!

----------


## soonerguru

> If the media is  not doing their jobs in line with my training then if J schools are not to be blamed then what is it.? 
> We certainly saw how thrilled several TV reporters were during Obama's second inauguration!


The blame lies in the fact that news has become "infotainment," and television news in particular is driven by ratings. 

There were a lot of dejected reporters out of camera view that day as well. No need to be obtuse.

We seem to agree that the local media did a poor job of reporting on the problems at Chesapeake and Sandridge before national outlets ran with the stories. Perhaps this is the "booster effect." Perhaps OKC is not big enough yet to have local news reporting that paints powerful community institutions -- that hire a lot of people and give to local charities -- in a critical light. 

You obviously knew there were problems, as did many other posters on this board. Many others, such as myself, suspected problems because of the obvious profligacy of Chesapeake in particular.

Perhaps we should start a media thread to continue this discussion and stick to Sandridge for now.

----------


## dankrutka

> Many National TV reporters have worked for democratic White Houses. 
> Do you like your TV news with this liberal biased?


This isn't the same of conservatives? Oh, it is? Cool story, bro.

----------


## dankrutka

> If the media is  “not doing their jobs in line with my training” then if J schools are not to be blamed… then what is it….? 
> We certainly saw how thrilled several TV reporters were during Obama's second inauguration!


Did you watch FOX during the election? They almost committed mass suicide. I watched a lot of coverage and it was mostly professional. I have a feeling your like Sarah Palin and blame the "liberal media" for everything instead of taking personal, and party, responsibility.

----------


## ou48A

> The blame lies in the fact that news has become "infotainment," and television news in particular is driven by ratings. 
> 
> There were a lot of dejected reporters out of camera view that day as well. No need to be obtuse.
> 
> We seem to agree that the local media did a poor job of reporting on the problems at Chesapeake and Sandridge before national outlets ran with the stories. Perhaps this is the "booster effect." Perhaps OKC is not big enough yet to have local news reporting that paints powerful community institutions -- that hire a lot of people and give to local charities -- in a critical light. 
> 
> You obviously knew there were problems, as did many other posters on this board. Many others, such as myself, suspected problems because of the obvious profligacy of Chesapeake in particular.
> 
> Perhaps we should start a media thread to continue this discussion and stick to Sandridge for now.



Having spoken to a well-known local TV news personality about OKC school problems at great length several times I can assure you that the "booster effect" is VERY alive and well in OKC. I would also agree that further discussion about the media should have its own thread.

----------


## SoonerDave

Believe it or not, there was a time when local news was journalism driven, investigatively minded, and ruffled more than a few feathers. Ol Terri Watkins of KOCO caused all manner of firestorms in her days. In fact, I think it was KOCO that helped break the Oklahoma Industries Authority scandal over illegal tax breaks it had offered to GM back in the 70's. Then there was the County Commissioner scandal, the (70's version) of the DHS nightmare under Lloyd Rader....

And, then, "infotainment" came along, and crushed local news with happy talk. And we _never, ever_ offend a sponsor.

Sad.

----------


## ou48A

> Believe it or not, there was a time when local news was journalism driven, investigatively minded, and ruffled more than a few feathers. Ol Terri Watkins of KOCO caused all manner of firestorms in her days. In fact, I think it was KOCO that helped break the Oklahoma Industries Authority scandal over illegal tax breaks it had offered to GM back in the 70's. Then there was the County Commissioner scandal, the (70's version) of the DHS nightmare under Lloyd Rader....
> 
> And, then, "infotainment" came along, and crushed local news with happy talk. And we _never, ever_ offend a sponsor.
> 
> Sad.


I remember that and it was a better product with better standards IMHO.
I am old enough to remember Jack Ogle in the 1960 on WKY TV.
As much as I can I stay away from the “infotainment”! It is sad.

I will give our local TV people high marks for covering breaking weather news better than other markets.
Sometimes I will go online and watch the TV coverage of tornado out breaks in other parts of the nation. Try watching tornado coverage in New England or LA, the difference is huge and sometimes comical.
We get much better tornado coverage than the deep south, Texas or Kansas.

----------


## blangtang

ISS recommends removing SandRidge board, Bloomberg reports

----

every share gets a vote, and the hedge fund guys are trying to get people to vote their way with their shares for control of the board and company

ISS advises shareholders and big institutional holders on how to vote in cases like this, from their website:

"Overview

ISS' proxy research team often interacts with company representatives, institutional shareholders, shareholder proponents and other parties in order to gain deeper insight into key issues."

some sort of outcome is expected in the next few weeks

----------


## Pete

SandRidge CEO's family amasses big land stake near company-fund

NEW YORK | Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:07am EST
(Reuters) - One of SandRidge Energy Inc's largest shareholders, pushing to remove its chief executive, alleged on Tuesday that a company controlled by the CEO's children has amassed around 475,000 acres near SandRidge's operations.

Hedge fund TPG-Axon, which has launched a campaign to remove all of SandRidge's board and replace CEO Tom Ward, claimed WCT Resources, an oil and gas company formed from trusts benefiting Ward's three adult children and run by his eldest son, Trent, is the fifth largest company doing business in the Mississippian shale formation that spans parts of Oklahoma and Kansas.

Oil and gas company SandRidge owns the most acreage in the Mississippian.

TPG-Axon alleges that land owned by WCT Resources in the Mississippian will benefit from SandRidge's efforts to build infrastructure in the region, adding that a smaller company like WCT Resources was not likely able to shoulder such a cost-intensive process.

TPG-Axon owns 6.7 percent of SandRidge's outstanding shares. The hedge fund has been campaigning for changes at the company since November.

SandRidge's board has given Ward wide latitude to profit from personal oil-and-gas deals in ways that pose potential conflicts of interest, according to a Reuters review of employment contracts and recent transactions.

SandRidge could not be reached immediately for comment. The company said proxy advisory firm Egan-Jones has recommended shareholders reject TPG-Axon's campaign to remove the company's board.

On Friday, another proxy advisory firm, ISS, recommended shareholders vote to replace a majority of SandRidge's board, backing five of TPG-Axon's nominees.

On January 25, SandRidge responded to shareholder allegations that Ward and his family improperly sold acreage to SandRidge. The company said it found no wrongdoing in the transactions. Impartial members of its board review all related-party transactions, the company said.

"TPG-Axon goes to great lengths to establish that WCT Resources owns leasehold acreage adjacent to acreage held by the company," SandRidge said, noting that it owns interests in nearly 5 million of the 17 million acres in the Mississippian region. "Virtually all companies active in the play are likely to have some interests that could be characterized as adjacent to the company's holdings."

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

----------


## onthestrip

Interesting that they are making no attempt to change anything or reduce conflicts of interest. I guess ward will defiantly continue on until he is forced out, which doesn't seem to be very far off.

----------


## betts

The ongoing proxy fight between SandRidge Energy Inc. and one of its larg-est shareholders could have serious ramifications on downtown Oklahoma City, city and industry observers say.

SandRidge proxy fight could affect downtown Oklahoma City | News OK

_Which is why I thought (and said at the time) that they should only allow Sandridge to tear down a building as they had plans and approval to build each building and were ready to dig.  This may well end up being another example of why OKC shouldn't be so quick to tear down historic buildings at the say so of someone who is promising pie in the sky.  As the aphorism goes: Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. _

----------


## bchris02

This definitely isn't good.  The good news is Sandridge's employee count in OKC is rather small but the bad news is the ramifications of losing such a high profile company. At best, one of the mystery towers that was in the works will be no more and whatever company was going to build it will take over Sandridge's tower.

----------


## metro

Hopefully they'll get the amenities building finished prior to any radical changes. it's starting to come out of the ground finally. Framework is going up past ground level now.

----------


## Teo9969

> Hopefully they'll get the amenities building finished prior to any radical changes. it's starting to come out of the ground finally. Framework is going up past ground level now.


What's the timeline like on construction RE: contracts?

I'd think if it's under contract they have to pay for it. I mean, obviously if they go belly up, nothing anyone can do, but SD is hardly in that position.

----------


## onthestrip

> Hopefully they'll get the amenities building finished prior to any radical changes. it's starting to come out of the ground finally. Framework is going up past ground level now.


If its already out of the ground then I dont see why it wouldnt be completed. If there is a takeover, I doubt it will be soon enough to stop the project and even if it was, they wont leave a construction project sitting unfinished

----------


## HangryHippo

As I work in the medicine and not in oil and gas, what do you guys think are the odds of SandRidge getting this turned around and remaining a viable OKC company?  Or are we going to see them sold off and moved to Houston?

----------


## Teo9969

I'm not an expert, but I don't see how you could give this situation odds. The current question is who wins the battle for control of the company? If Ward and the current Board come out on top, I'd think the odds OKC loses SD to being sold off and relocated are close to zero, because it's hard to see Ward selling the company. If they lose the battle, then the new board/CEO may or may not decide to move/sell...it just depends.

Now, a buyout/hostile takeover are always a possibility...especially when their market cap is under $3B. 

The best outcome for OKC (and I have no clue if this is even a possibility, but the idea is out there) I think would be for Shell to buy SD and establish OKC as their N.A. headquarters. Instant stability for the company and likely plenty of growth to come.

----------


## metro

anyone see today where they posted better than expected profits for Q4 2012?

----------


## HangryHippo

When is this shareholder revolt thing with TPG-Axon supposed to wrap up?

----------


## Pete

The vote on possible new directors is March 15th.

----------


## Teo9969

> The vote on possible new directors is March 15th.


Quick...everyone buy shares!!!!

----------


## Pete

Full page ad in today's Oklahoman:

----------


## OKCTalker

Typos (at least two), grammatical errors and clumsy sentence structure. I don't want to be the "grammar Nazi" here, but if these guys can't competently write a full-page ad in the DO, then what in the world can we expect them to do at the reins of SD?

----------


## onthestrip

> Typos (at least two), grammatical errors and clumsy sentence structure. I don't want to be the "grammar Nazi" here, but if these guys can't competently write a full-page ad in the DO, then what in the world can we expect them to do at the reins of SD?


Maybe not loot the company like Tom Ward..?

----------


## blangtang

9:27 PM TPG-Axon increases its stake in SandRidge Energy (SD) to 36.2M shares from 33M at 2012's end. The deadline for voting on TPG's bid to replace the board is March 15. Between TPG and Leon Cooperman - who sounded on last week's CC like he's had it with management - that's more than 70M shares vs. a float of nearly 500M. 

---

On last week's conference call, Cooperman called in to ask a question after management explained that everything was great, the results are good, etc.  Here's the exchange:

"What is the Street missing," asks an agitated Leon Cooperman (owner of 24M shares) on the SandRidge (SD -3.7%) earnings call. Noting TPG's estimate of the company's value is double the current price, Cooperman wants to know why the stock is languishing and how management plans to turn it around. In response, CEO Ward says the company continues to suffer from the "unorthodox" moves taken to stay afloat in 2009. He notes a string of earnings beats and the "extraordinary value" of the Mississippi play."

---
This morning SandRidge held a 2013 Investor/Analyst Meeting Conference Call.  

I copied the intro and Tom Ward's opening comment, link to the rest of it at the bottom

---



Kevin White

Welcome to the Sixth Annual SandRidge Investor/Analyst Day. We are glad to have such a big crowd here today. I am just going to do real quick brief introduction. Also at the lawyer’s request, actually always read the forward-looking information. Also, we do sponsor three public trusts, SandRidge, Mississippian Trust I and II and SandRidge Permian Trust and today we will not really cover anything related to those trusts. This will just all be on SandRidge, the [C]-Corporation.

Just to outline for the day today, most of the day is going to be spent with our technical executives here, doing a deep dive into our assets and we’ll save the questions for the end of the day. I believe we have a break about halfway through, I think it’s after Dave Lawler’s presentation.

And with that just brief introduction, I'll introduce Tom Ward.

*Tom Ward

Sorry, running a little bit late, I was back to talking to Aubrey about Board seat; just kidding, just kidding.* Okay, our operating regions have changed a bit over the years. We now have three operating regions that we are active in, still active in the Permian, even after the sale. We are most active in the Mississippian, where we have, that's the area that is the growth interest for the company and then in the Gulf of Mexico we had the acquisition last year of Dynamic, that continues to exceed our expectations and then lastly we still have our gas asset in the West Texas Overthrust. So if you were to be here six years ago as Kevin mentioned, you would have had a company that was focused only in the West Texas Overthrust and a 100% natural gas. So moving forward overtime what we've done is the most dramatic shift to oil of any public company.

Read more: SandRidge Energy's CEO Hosts 2013 Investor/Analyst Meeting Conference (Transcript)

----------


## fromdust

SandRidge Investors Win Injunction in Proxy Fight Case - Businessweek
SandRidge Energy Inc. (SD) investors persuaded a judge to bar the energy company’s directors from impeding their efforts to replace the board in a proxy fight, according to court filings.

----------


## metro

Not good. I reallyyyyyy hope the amenities building and Kerr Park gets finished prior to any major changes. If those get done, the properties would be easy to market and won't last long at all.

----------


## Pete

Kerr/Couch Park is particularly troubling because the other contributor to it's renovation was to be Chesapeake.

----------


## HangryHippo

If SandRidge shareholders win this battle, does that kill the mystery tower?

----------


## Pete

SandRidge approves director candidates proposed by dissident shareholder
By Adam Wilmoth | Published: March 12, 2013


The Oklahoma City energy company had previously said that if hedge fund TPG-Axon Capital were successful in its move to oust the SandRidge board, the action would constitute a change of control that could cost the company more than $4.3 billion. The company later backed off that figure.

Delaware Chancery Court Judge Leo E. Strine Jr. on Friday blocked the SandRidge board from soliciting votes in its ongoing proxy fight until it approved TPG- Axon's director candidates.

SandRidge moved to meet that requirement Tuesday morning.

----------


## blangtang

settled with TPG, giving 4 board members

----------


## Pete

SandRidge Energy Expands Board Of Directors
Press Release: SandRidge Energy, Inc. – 9 minutes ago

OKLAHOMA CITY, March 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- SandRidge Energy, Inc. (SD) today announced that it has reached a settlement agreement with TPG-Axon Capital.  Under the terms of the agreement:
Four of the TPG-Axon Group's nominees – Stephen C. Beasley, Edward W. Moneypenny, Alan J. Weber and Dan A. Westbrook – will be added to the Board of Directors effective immediately.The Board of Directors will complete a review by an independent firm of the related-party transactions that have been outlined by TPG-Axon, and expects the results of that review to be completed no later than June 15, 2013.  Mr. Ward will remain Chairman and CEO while the Board completes its review.*The Board of Directors will decide by June 30, 2013, whether or not to terminate Mr. Ward's employment.  If the Board does not terminate Mr. Ward by June 30, 2013, three current directors will resign, and one additional TPG-Axon nominee will be elected to the Board, resulting in a majority of the Board being TPG-Axon nominees.* In the event that Mr. Ward is no longer CEO, James Bennett will be appointed interim CEO, and the Board will conduct a search for a successor CEO.  Mr. Bennett has been appointed President and Jeffrey Serota has been appointed lead independent director.  In the event Mr. Ward is no longer Chairman of the Board, Mr. Serota will be appointed interim Chairman, for a term of six months.The Board will also conduct a comprehensive review of the Company's strategy and costs, with particular focus on reducing corporate overhead and optimizing capital expenditures. As a symbol of its commitment to improving efficiency, the Board has reduced compensation for directors, effective immediately, from $375,000 to $250,000 per year.

Mr. Serota stated "We believe these actions open a new chapter for SandRidge.  Going forward, the Company will focus on maximizing the potential of its existing assets, particularly its valuable position in the Mississippian formation.  In addition, we remain committed to creating long-term value for all stakeholders including our shareholders and employees and the communities in which we operate. We look forward to the immediate contribution of our new directors." 

Dinakar Singh, founder of TPG-Axon, commented: "We are pleased to reach agreement with the SandRidge directors, and look forward to working together to build shareholder value.  We believe the actions taken by the Board address our concerns, and are a promising start to a bright future for SandRidge.  We all believe that SandRidge has tremendous asset value, and we expect that the Company will relentlessly focus on growing and realizing that value through a particular focus on execution and efficiency." 

TPG-Axon Group has agreed to terminate its consent solicitation and withdraw its notice to the Company of its intent to present certain proposals and nominate certain individuals for election as directors at the Company's 2013 annual meeting.

The Company noted that while the Board's review to date has not revealed any improper conduct by Mr. Ward, the Audit Committee of the Board is conducting a further review, with the assistance of independent counsel, and expects the results of that review to be completed no later than June 15, 2013. 

Separately, SandRidge also announced today that Matthew K. Grubb, the Company's President and Chief Operating Officer, has informed the Company of his intent to resign to pursue other opportunities. Mr. Ward commented, "I want to thank Matt for his tireless work over the last seven years.  He has been instrumental in helping SandRidge transition to a liquids rich company with a solid financial footing. We wish him the best in his future endeavors."

----------


## Pete

^

What this tells me is that SandRidge expected to lose the shareholder vote that was due by March 15 and if that had come to pass, their entire board would have been thrown out.

So, they settled for these terms and are hoping they come through the independent review without Ward being tossed.  But even if he isn't, TPG-Axon will still gain majority on the board.

I pray they don't stop construction on the Amenities Building.  Seems like that may be a very real possibility.

----------


## onthestrip

> ^
> 
> What this tells me is that SandRidge expected to lose the shareholder vote that was due by March 15 and if that had come to pass, their entire board would have been thrown out.
> 
> So, they settled for these terms and are hoping they come through the independent review without Ward being tossed.  But even if he isn't, TPG-Axon will still gain majority on the board.
> 
> I pray they don't stop construction on the Amenities Building.  Seems like that may be a very real possibility.


Well at least Ward, er, his son, has half a million acres of mineral leases to fall back on. Quite interesting how Aubrey and Tom might end up being forced out of their respective companies in the same year.

----------


## warreng88

What are the chances Tom Ward gets ousted and he and Aubrey decide to start another energy company giving up some of their "severance"?

----------


## adaniel

> ^
> 
> What this tells me is that SandRidge expected to lose the shareholder vote that was due by March 15 and if that had come to pass, their entire board would have been thrown out.
> 
> So, they settled for these terms and are hoping they come through the independent review without Ward being tossed.  But even if he isn't, TPG-Axon will still gain majority on the board.
> 
> I pray they don't stop construction on the Amenities Building.  Seems like that may be a very real possibility.


The amenities building has probably already been expensed in their books and contracted out, so I don't think they will stop construction. Their more ambitious campus plans, however, are likely on hold for the foreseeable future.

----------


## metro

> The amenities building has probably already been expensed in their books and contracted out, so I don't think they will stop construction. Their more ambitious campus plans, however, are likely on hold for the foreseeable future.


Yeah, I think this is the most likely scenario. We can probably kiss the garage renovations/expansion goodbye, as well as the Broadway Auto Alley buildings. They are almost completely done with the basement on amenities building.

----------


## HangryHippo

Well, maybe this means they'll hang around OKC and at least the whole board isn't being ousted by TPG.

----------


## Pete

As far as the undeveloped land on Broadway, wouldn't be the worst thing to put that on the market and get it into the hands of someone wanting to develop it sooner rather than later.  SD only had this in their very long-term plans.

With the Amenities Building, having it budgeted and having spent the money are two entirely different things.  They have probably let out some of the contracts but certainly not all.  And I guarantee they have not ordered hardly any of the materials or paid up front for labor.  Plenty of building projects get stopped before finishing, so I'm not so confident the new board is going to be okay with this, especially since they keep harping on about extravagance.  

I'm also worried about Kerr / Couch park as SandRidge and Chesapeake were to put up the funds to rebuild it, and SD was to take responsibility for maintenance and programming.

Whether Ward stays after June or not, TPG-Axon will at that point control the board.  At the very least, Ward would almost certainly be demoted from board chair (ala Aubrey) and then eventually forced completely out.


I see all this unfolding in a very similar manner to Chesapeake, they just got started about a year earlier.  As far as I know CHK hasn't halted any of their construction projects but most of theirs were very far along.

----------


## ljbab728

Changes at SandRidge leave questions about CEO Ward's future | News OK




> “It looks like Tom Ward's days are numbered here,” Morningstar analyst Mark Hanson said. “If the current board doesn't terminate him in the next three months, it looks like TPG takes control and they will oust him, I'm sure, shortly thereafter.”
> 
> Edmond investment adviser Greg Womack said Wednesday's “surprise” agreement seemingly gives Ward a chance to audition for his job.
> 
> “He's a great talent. He knows his business,” said Womack, president of Womack Investment Advisers Inc. “He's probably the right man for the job.”





> If Ward were terminated without cause, he would stand to receive nearly $96 million, according to SandRidge's proxy statement filed in April 2012. Ward would be owed nothing if he were terminated with cause.
> 
> The proxy does not state what would happen if Ward were to resign or retire.

----------


## ljbab728

SandRidge shares slip in heavy trading after shareholder settlement | News OK




> “Given the public pronouncement that TPG-Axon has made about Ward, it's hard to see that we could get to June 15 and the board says he's been so phenomenal that they aren't going to get rid of Ward. That would fly in the face of the PowerPoint presentations, letters and CNBC appearances (TPG-Axon CEO) Dinakar Singh has made over the past four months. It would hurt his credibility.”

----------


## HangryHippo

Some people seem to be more skeptical about SandRidge's survival than that of Chesapeake.  I really don't know what's going to happen to SandRidge, but it doesn't look good.  Does TPG want to move them out of OKC or just get their financials shored up?  They seem to have a vendetta against Ward and the board.

----------


## adaniel

^
No. Why would they move? Corporate relocations are expensive and the vast majority of Sandridge's operations in are NW Oklahoma. I guess they can move to Enid LOL.

More concerning are possible staff cuts and an outright sale of the company. I tend to agree their future is far murkier than CHK, which has largely stabilized and will probably be okay.

----------


## HangryHippo

> ^
> No. Why would they move? Corporate relocations are expensive and the vast majority of Sandridge's operations in are NW Oklahoma. I guess they can move to Enid LOL.
> 
> More concerning are possible staff cuts and an outright sale of the company. I tend to agree their future is far murkier than CHK, which has largely stabilized and will probably be okay.


Adaniel, I shouldn't have said move, I should have said outright sale of the company.  That seems to be the looming threat with the takeover attempts and reformed board.

Who would be the most likely to buy SandRidge you think?  Or is it more likely they'd be sold off in parts to various entities?

----------


## adaniel

Well, I'm neither a stock market guru or energy industry expert, but the Mississippian is the hot play right now. So the simple fact they have such a large footprint there makes them an attractive takeover target. 

SD stock price is much more depressed than it should be according to TPG, and they have some legit gripes. I imagine they believe they can unlock a lot of value in the company that hasn't been tapped. But if the stock price doesn't go up in the next 9-12 months, I would think they would push for a sale.

Just my 0.02.

----------


## blangtang

Tom Ward and other insiders are jumping ship and selling shares-

However its impossible to tell motive-

-could be tax related
-could be to protest recent board shakeup
-could be to buy new resort homes, etc

Timing is the most interesting to me...they agreed to add board seats on March 13

...

Insider Transactions Reported - Last Two Years

Date	                Insider	                                Shares	   Type	      Transaction	        Value*

Mar 19, 2013	TIPTON TODD N.Officer	                17,929	Direct	Sale at $5.59 per share.	100,223
Mar 17, 2013	WARD TOM L.Officer	                        832,000	Direct	Sale at $5.63 per share.	4,684,160
Mar 17, 2013	TIPTON TODD N.Officer	                35,000	Direct	Sale at $5.65 per share.	197,750
Mar 14, 2013	COOLEY RANDALL D.Officer	                25,000	Direct	Sale at $5.70 per share.	142,500
Mar 14, 2013	WARD TOM L.Officer	                        2,835,000	Direct	Sale at $5.70 per share.	16,159,499
Mar 14, 2013	JOHNSON RODNEY E.Officer	                83,026	Direct	Sale at $5.80 per share.	481,550
Mar 13, 2013	BEASLEY STEPHEN C Director	        15,000	Indirect	Statement of Ownership	N/A
Mar 13, 2013	WESTBROOK DAN ALLEN Director	        15,000	Direct	Statement of Ownership	N/A

more listed here:

SD Insider Transactions | Sandridge Energy Inc. Common St Stock - Yahoo! Finance

tom ward should get an award for this:

----------


## Bellaboo

Here's some inside info for you guys -
A former boss of mine had a kid that played football at Deer Creek. He and his wife knew the Ward's from this, guess their kids went to school together. At the time, they had to play Guymon out in the panhandle. Ward showed up for the game in a Chesapeake jet, and told my friend that it was just a matter of time restrictions is why they flew in on a jet. Also, Ward's son, just a few years ago, and in his early 20 something years of age, was being paid $1 million a year to be in charge of 'charitable giving' for SD. Hell, I'd have done it for half that amount. LOL    

Now this is all 3rd hand info, believe it if you want.......

----------


## Pete

Interesting tidbit from Steve's chat last Friday:




> Steve Lackmeyer It's quite possible that several of the empty lots SandRidge owns along Broadway could be sold and put into play. But so far, *SandRidge isn't talking. They have indicated to our energy guys they're not going to talk to us at all anymore because of their displeasure of our coverage*.

----------


## onthestrip

Sandridge board to investigate Tom Ward's actions. I imagine this could affect his golden parachute if they find wrong doing and are able to terminate him with cause.

New Board at SandRidge Explores Allegations Against CEO Tom Ward | OK Energy Today

----------


## tillyato

Not looking good: SandRidge Energy shareholder expects company to be sold after proxy fight

----------


## Just the facts

Too bad people who are only in it for short-term gain get to decide long-term issues.  It is what is wrong with Wall Street.  It has become one big progress trap.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Not looking good: SandRidge Energy shareholder expects company to be sold after proxy fight


Disappointing, but not surprising news.  Just a damn shame that they didn't have time to see if things got better with the changes.

----------


## onthestrip

> Too bad people who are only in it for short-term gain get to decide long-term issues.  It is what is wrong with Wall Street.  It has become one big progress trap.


The way Ward was operating and compensating...its hard to say he was really in it for the long term either. He only has himself to blame. TPG wouldnt have been able to take control if it werent for Ward's shady business practices.

----------


## HangryHippo

> The way Ward was operating and compensating...its hard to say he was really in it for the long term either. He only has himself to blame. *TPG wouldnt have been able to take control if it werent for Ward's shady business practices*.


That's a stretch.  Tom Ward is hardly the only person responsible for SandRidge's now seemingly imminent demise.

----------


## adaniel

Should be emphasized that this is the opinion of one shareholder.

With that in mind, if their stock price doesn't start recovering in the next 6-9 months, a sale would start looking more likely.

----------


## onthestrip

> That's a stretch.  Tom Ward is hardly the only person responsible for SandRidge's now seemingly imminent demise.


Who else is responsible? Its hard to say it was the board members. They were picked by Ward and way overpaid to let him do what he wanted. Im not sure how at least 90% of the blame doesnt lie right with Ward.

----------


## Pete

Wow, this is very big news...

We all feared SandRidge and/or Chesapeake would be sold, but now it's looking like the SD sale is a foregone conclusion.


So, what does that mean for OKC?  That tower empty again?  No employees moving into the Braniff Building?  The Amenities Building being brought to a complete halt?

----------


## HangryHippo

> Wow, this is very big news...
> 
> We all feared SandRidge and/or Chesapeake would be sold, but now it's looking like the SD sale is a foregone conclusion.
> 
> 
> So, what does that mean for OKC?  That tower empty again?  No employees moving into the Braniff Building?  The Amenities Building being brought to a complete halt?


I'd imagine that one thing this means is no mystery tower for OKC.

----------


## Rover

Maybe Aubrey has a purchase target now.  If SR is so undervalued, he knows it.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Maybe Aubrey has a purchase target now.  If SR is so undervalued, he knows it.


That would be quite the turn of events...

----------


## CaptDave

> Maybe Aubrey has a purchase target now.  If SR is so undervalued, he knows it.


Interesting thought... and not entirely unrealistic.

----------


## Pete

Maybe Aubrey and Tom Ward could partner, bring in investors and buy the SandRidge assets.  And/or buy some of the CHK assets which are on the block as well.


BTW, SandRidge Tower is under 500,000 square feet, compared to the Devon complex which is four times larger.


So, anyone looking to building a 40-story tower could not be accommodated with the SandRidge properties; unless they added significant space, such as what SD had planned to do to the east of the tower.

----------


## Rover

SR and Chesapeake will sell off excess assets at a fire sale price.  Aubrey and Tom obviously thought they were more valuable than the current board members do.  So, can Aubrey and Tom take them off their hands?  Of course...and for a fraction of what they were acquired for in the first place.  They didn't make the money they have by being stupid. Bet Mr. Pickens would help back them.

----------


## Pete

BTW, the SD stock is nearing an all-time low ($4.00) and very close to a 52-week low ($4.52), today closing at $4.56.

----------


## Pete

Anyone buying is anticipating a sale...  And there is almost always a turn-up when that happens.

----------


## Just the facts

hmmm, it would cost about $3 billion to take Sandridge private - then Ward and McClendon could do what they want without having to worry about Wall Street.

----------


## soonerguru

> Wow, this is very big news...
> 
> We all feared SandRidge and/or Chesapeake would be sold, but now it's looking like the SD sale is a foregone conclusion.
> 
> 
> So, what does that mean for OKC?  That tower empty again?  No employees moving into the Braniff Building?  The Amenities Building being brought to a complete halt?


I sat next to a SandRidge exec on a plane when the whole controversy was brewing about them tearing down those buildings and he was an arrogant P---k (and a kool-aid drinker; he was convinced they were going to be hiring 5,000 people!). He acted like the Historic Preservation crowd was a bunch of clueless socialists. 

And where are we now? Exactly where we knew we would be. This should surprise no one.

If this city has a great failing it's that it will ALWAYS sink or swim with our corporate overlords (even when they are completely unproven newbies like SandRidge). Perhaps we should start asking companies to prove themselves before we let them destroy historic buildings based on empty promises.

----------


## Rover

Yes because that area of downtown is so much worse now than it was or has been for two or three decades.

----------


## soonerguru

> Yes because that area of downtown is so much worse now than it was or has been for two or three decades.


I see your point, but I think you would agree that if SD leaves a gaping hole where its amenities building is supposed to go that is not an improvement.

----------


## Just the facts

> I see your point, but I think you would agree that if SD leaves a gaping hole where its amenities building is supposed to go that is not an improvement.


Not to mention the city park Sandridge committed to maintaining.

----------


## Bellaboo

One thing i've noticed, at least last night, SandRidge have not put up their 'Go Thunder' banners on the top of their building. Not sure if this is weather or wind related or whatever related. Usually by the start of the playoffs, the banners are up.

----------


## DowntownMan

> One thing i've noticed, at least last night, SandRidge have not put up their 'Go Thunder' banners on the top of their building. Not sure if this is weather or wind related or whatever related. Usually by the start of the playoffs, the banners are up.


They were the last ones to go up last year. We still have two full days of sunlight for them to go up by Tomorrow evening

----------


## G.Walker

No "Let's Go Thunder" banner a top of Sandridge Tower this year??? This is not a good sign....

----------


## Pete

The witching hour is drawing near for Tom Ward.

When the four new board members were put in place back in March, they also said they would be conducting a review to determine if Ward's various dealings with the company were appropriate.  That review is due by June 15th.

Also, they said they would be making a decision about keeping Ward on as CEO by the shareholders meeting, which is scheduled for July 1st.


It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Ward will be shown the door one way or another, and this is all going to come to a head in the next few weeks.


After that, things start to get a little scary because the future of the company is uncertain.  We know they have already shifted their plans away from occupying the Braniff and Amenities buildings, but they obviously still have lots of highly-paid staff in the tower.

----------


## Stinger

> The witching hour is drawing near for Tom Ward.
> 
> When the four new board members were put in place back in March, they also said they would be conducting a review to determine if Ward's various dealings with the company were appropriate.  That review is due by June 15th.
> 
> Also, they said they would be making a decision about keeping Ward on as CEO by the shareholders meeting, which is scheduled for July 1st.
> 
> 
> It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Ward will be shown the door one way or another, and this is all going to come to a head in the next few weeks.
> 
> ...


SandRidge Energy Board Ousts Tom Ward
SandRidge Energy Board Ousts Founder Tom Ward, Names CFO James Bennett as CEO and President

----------


## HangryHippo

Well, that's no real surprise.  Wonder when they'll put themselves up for sale?

----------


## Pete

Reading more, the investigation into his dealings was determined not to be a reason for termination.

It was to seek a new direction.

----------


## Larry OKC

http://newsok.com/tom-ward-out-as-sa...rticle/3854307
Their site has been having issues off and on all day, so link may be inactive right now...

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Well, that's no real surprise.  Wonder when they'll put themselves up for sale?


Just like what happened to CHK when Aubrey left...right?

----------


## onthestrip

$53.5 million severance...what a joke. The company's performance has been awful under his leadership, not to mention the conflicts of interest and suspect family dealings, and he gets this huge golden parachute? Absurd.

----------


## HangryHippo

> Just like what happened to CHK when Aubrey left...right?


What?

----------


## HangryHippo

> $53.5 million severance...what a joke. The company's performance has been awful under his leadership, not to mention the conflicts of interest and suspect family dealings, and he gets this huge golden parachute? Absurd.


That does seem outrageous.

----------


## OKCTalker

WSJ reporting $90 million: 

_"SandRidge Energy Inc. founder Tom Ward was ousted as the oil and gas producer's chief executive and chairman, and will take one of the biggest severance packages seen in the energy industry, about $90 million, the company said on Wednesday."_

----------


## Kokopelli

According to the article in the Oklahoman the severance package is actually valued at $90.9m.  The good news is that the market seems to be reacting favorably to this news as the stock is up today (2.21%). And that is on a day the Dow is down 206 points

----------


## PhiAlpha

> What?


I was being facetious... By agreeing to fire Tom Ward, the original board members still control the board at Sandridge. Probably a better chance that they sell now, but its by no means a given. They still have a pretty good asset base so a change in leadership/strategy may very well bring them out of this. I guess we'll see.

----------


## dankrutka

It didn't take long to find out about Aubrey's future plans, what will Ward's be? Anyone really think they join forces?

----------


## PhiAlpha

Don't think they'll join forces but no reason not to believe he won't start another company or go buy one.

----------


## onthestrip

> It didn't take long to find out about Aubrey's future plans, what will Ward's be? Anyone really think they join forces?


Tom and sons amassed about 500,000 acres in the Mississippi play, which was in the same area sandridge was buying leases (unethical much?). They'll probably be busy with that.

----------


## soonerguru

> Reading more, the investigation into his dealings was determined not to be a reason for termination.
> 
> It was to seek a new direction.


That will be the nice PR patina they put on it. But what do you expect them to say: "Well we investigated this guy and he's a crook." Then there would be lawsuits and strife.

As it is, Tom Ward is given a nice golden parachute and won't be lawyering up.

----------


## soonerguru

> $53.5 million severance...what a joke. The company's performance has been awful under his leadership, not to mention the conflicts of interest and suspect family dealings, and he gets this huge golden parachute? Absurd.


Hey Bucko, this is capitalism. He was worth every penny (cough, cough).

----------


## zookeeper

> WSJ reporting $90 million: 
> 
> _"SandRidge Energy Inc. founder Tom Ward was ousted as the oil and gas producer's chief executive and chairman, and will take one of the biggest severance packages seen in the energy industry, about $90 million, the company said on Wednesday."_


Obscene. I can't think of a better word.

Think on the math: 
If I made $100,000 a year it would take me ten years to make a million dollars from my paycheck.
Fifty years to make five million.
One hundred years to make ten million.
Three hundred and sixty years to make thirty six million dollars.
*900 years at a hundred grand a year to make $90,000,000.00*
Going backward in time that would go back to the year 1113, or 2913 in the future.

Too many people get used to these big numbers and forget what we're really talking about. This deal with Ward just gives excessive a whole new meaning.

----------


## soonerguru

> Obscene. I can't think of a better word.
> 
> Think on the math: 
> If I made $100,000 a year it would take me ten years to make a million dollars from my paycheck.
> Fifty years to make five million.
> One hundred years to make ten million.
> Three hundred and sixty years to make thirty six million dollars.
> *900 years at a hundred grand a year to make $90,000,000.00*
> Going backward in time that would go back to the year 1113, or 2913 in the future.
> ...


Oh, but he brought such "shareholder value." He was worth every penny, don't you know?

----------


## Pete

Maybe he'll use this to build a tower on the property he owns on Broadway & 4th??   :Wink:

----------


## Just the facts

> Tom and sons amassed about 500,000 acres in the Mississippi play, which was in the same area sandridge was buying leases (unethical much?). They'll probably be busy with that.


Why is this a shock?  If you are going to own oil and gas leases don't you have to do it where oil and gas is?

----------


## onthestrip

> Why is this a shock?  If you are going to own oil and gas leases don't you have to do it where oil and gas is?


Because his son's "company" was buying them in the same areas sandridge was. And his son's "company" for a time had the same address as sandridge. And Ive been told by employees that at sandridge, on the company's computer was a program for sandridge and a program for his son's "company". Even though Tom said they were totally separate and there wasnt any conflict of interest. Rrrright...

Oh, this is also on top of his son's "company" actually selling oil leases back to sandridge. No conflict of interest there...

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Because his son's "company" was buying them in the same areas sandridge was. And his son's "company" for a time had the same address as sandridge. And Ive been told by employees that at sandridge, on the company's computer was a program for sandridge and a program for his son's "company". Even though Tom said they were totally separate and there wasnt any conflict of interest. Rrrright...
> 
> Oh, this is also on top of his son's "company" actually selling oil leases back to sandridge. No conflict of interest there...


All of that up until selling them back to SD is completely ethical as long as disclosed and happens all the time. Even if they were in the same building and especially if using 2 separate systems, no problem there. The problem and complication come when his son sold leases back to SD and even that, like ethics in general, is a grey area. 

At any rate, family members working for or owning separate companies buy leases in the same areas all the time.

----------


## onthestrip

> All of that up until selling them back to SD is completely ethical as long as disclosed and happens all the time. Even if they were in the same building and especially if using 2 separate systems, no problem there. The problem and complication come when his son sold leases back to SD and even that, like ethics in general, is a grey area. 
> 
> At any rate, family members working for or owning separate companies buy leases in the same areas all the time.


It wasnt disclosed and Ward maintained that they were totally seperate companies, even though his sons company address was sandridge. Im not sure what business world you live in to think thats perfectly ethical. But what is indisputably unethical is the practice of his sons company actually selling leases back to sandridge.

Anyway, heres an article talking about the new CEO. This bit is probably not what OKC folks want to see:

Hanson also approved of new CEO Bennett and said his background in investment banking and private equity could help with a sale of the company.

"He's a sharp guy," Hanson said. "This guy has the chops to lead a sale effort."

SandRidge ousts CEO Ward, Bennett takes the helm | Reuters

----------


## PhiAlpha

> It wasnt disclosed and Ward maintained that they were totally seperate companies, even though his sons company address was sandridge. Im not sure what business world you live in to think thats perfectly ethical. But what is indisputably unethical is the practice of his sons company actually selling leases back to sandridge.
> 
> Anyway, heres an article talking about the new CEO. This bit is probably not what OKC folks want to see:
> 
> Hanson also approved of new CEO Bennett and said his background in investment banking and private equity could help with a sale of the company.
> 
> "He's a sharp guy," Hanson said. "This guy has the chops to lead a sale effort."
> 
> SandRidge ousts CEO Ward, Bennett takes the helm | Reuters


Do you work in the oil and gas industry?

----------


## Just the facts

What are the odds American Energy Partners buys Sandridge?

----------


## PhiAlpha

> What are the odds American Energy Partners buys Sandridge?


Right now...slim. They are mainly looking for properties in the Northeast, specifically they are looking for natural gas while it's cheap. If they want to get back into the mid-continent area after awhile, who knows? Won't put anything past Aubrey, he likes the Mississippi Lime so SD would be a quick and easy buy in. I think anything on that scale for AEP is at least a few years off though.

----------


## Pete

Like Chesapeake, at least they built back some things before the crazy train was derailed.

Would really stink if they were sold and no longer a major employer in OKC but this could have been much, much worse and the whole thing should still be a strong cautionary tale for allowing companies to scrape entire blocks with nothing more than promises.

We were somewhat lucky here but still, something needs to change before our luck runs out.

----------


## HangryHippo

PhiAlpha, how do you see SandRidge's situation playing out?  Sold off?  New leadership rights the ship?  Something else entirely?

----------


## onthestrip

> Do you work in the oil and gas industry?


No. I am a Sandridge shareholder though.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> PhiAlpha, how do you see SandRidge's situation playing out?  Sold off?  New leadership rights the ship?  Something else entirely?


Not sure, it's so up in the air right now it's difficult to tell but if I were to guess... It will mostly rely on results from the Mississippi play since that's really their only major active asset right now. If results improve and they can get their spending under control like CHK did, they will be fine. If results from the miss go south, all bets are off. A lot of there Kansas extension acreage is a wildcard at best, so that will be something fun to watch. Miss wells in the northern part of that area have not done very well so far. There are a few targets up there outside of the miss, but none really tested horizontally yet. Fortunately for sandridge they still have a massive position in the core area of the play in northern OK and southern Kansas.

As far as a company sale, I don't think its time time to panic. The board is still controlled by the original Sandridge Board, so I think there is a lot better chance that they won't sell now than if Ward hadn't left and control had been turned over to TPG Axon. Even if someone did purchase them, especially a major with few operations in this area, I think there is a very good chance that the office will remain here. The next decent size city to the miss play is Wichita, and why would they move from an oil and gas hub to an outpost? If a company needs a large office for all staff running an asset and already have a nice one here, why would they move them all to Houston or Denver? OKC has been considered the 2nd most important energy city in the US, so unless someone from Houston bought them and shut down the OKC office, I don't know where they would go. Like I said, logistically I don't think that would make a lot of sense. 

While it was a much larger company at the time it was acquired, you can look to the XTO Exxon merger to see how that kind of situation doesn't have to be bad for a city. Exxon is using XTO as a subsidiary company to manage all of their domestic assets and has actually been moving personnel working US assets from Houston to Ft. Worth. One of XTOs larger assets was their Barnett Shale acreage , located in and around FTW, so you can see the parralel.

At any rate there is no reason to jump to conclusions on this yet. It could go several directions, several of which could end up great for OKC. In the end, in the worst case, if someone buys them or they go belly up and OKC office closes, at least they've created a nice office complex that will be attractive to another company. Would've been a lot harder to get another company into the complex if the building and those surrounding we're in the shape they were a few years ago. Say what you want about their campus plan, you can't deny that they've made it a very nice and marketable office space.

Sorry for any grammer errors, typed this from an iPhone.

----------


## soonerguru

> Like Chesapeake, at least they built back some things before the crazy train was derailed.
> 
> Would really stink if they were sold and no longer a major employer in OKC but this could have been much, much worse and the whole thing should still be a strong cautionary tale for allowing companies to scrape entire blocks with nothing more than promises.
> 
> We were somewhat lucky here but still, something needs to change before our luck runs out.


Not to be a downer, but I don't see the above scenario changing in OKC. Think about it: part-owner in Thunder, employer promising lots of new jobs, promises of spending millions on downtown, probably big chamber donors. Companies like SandRidge will ALWAYS have the upper hand over the "whiny preservationists" and "urbanists." Money talks, even when it's borrowed.

----------


## ljbab728

An interesting comment about this from Steve in his most recent chat.

Steve Lackmeyer: Tom Ward is looking for prominent downtown office space | News OK




> And I can tell you this morning I have it from great sources that Tom Ward is already searching for prominent and visible downtown office space.
> 
> Oklahoma City may end up with more great companies, not less, from the fall-out of changes at Chesapeake Energy and SandRidge Energy.

----------


## s00nr1

More buyout speculation:

SandRidge Energy could be attractive target for Repsol, says Susquehanna - Yahoo Finance




> Susquehanna noted a report that Repsol (REPYY) was looking for a North American E&P acquisition and believes SandRidge (SD) could be a target. The firm sees overlapping assets including an existing joint venture and Gulf of Mexico businesses. Susquehanna believes a $9 purchase price puts the acquisition cost inline with what Repsol is reportedly seeking. Shares of SandRidge are Positive rated.

----------


## Just the facts

> More buyout speculation:
> 
> SandRidge Energy could be attractive target for Repsol, says Susquehanna - Yahoo Finance


This actually might be a good opportunity for OKC.  They are headquarter in Spain and their US operations are run out of a 3 story building in The Woodlands.  They would be much better off moving the Texas staff to downtown OKC.

----------


## OKC_Chipper

> This actually might be a good opportunity for OKC.  They are headquarter in Spain and their US operations are run out of a 3 story building in The Woodlands.  They would be much better off moving the Texas staff to downtown OKC.


How do you figure "they would be much better off" moving to OKC? The Woodlands is a great area with quite a few energy companies having either offices or headquarters there. Not trying to be pessimistic just trying to figure out your reasoning.

----------


## Teo9969

Yes.

If SD is going to get bought out, I'd prefer it be by a non-US company that doesn't really have any presence stateside.

----------


## Just the facts

OKC is a great area with quite a few energy companies as well.  They would clearly need more space to house staff for Sandridge operation and if they take over Sandridge they would own 3 towers in one location with room to build more - instead of leasing in Texas.  Plus, they seem to love the Le Corbusier style plaza Sandridge built.

----------


## adaniel

> How do you figure "they would be much better off" moving to OKC? The Woodlands is a great area with quite a few energy companies having either offices or headquarters there. Not trying to be pessimistic just trying to figure out your reasoning.


SandRidge main assets are largely in NW Oklahoma/S Kansas. So it makes no sense for them to move most people. If they were to be bought out, they would likely just make this an operations office (although I imagine most of the top corporate folks may transfer).

I have noticed their stock price has been pretty flat, and I've said all along that if their stock doesn't increase, shareholders are going to push for a sale. So this is something people may have to start taking seriously.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> SandRidge main assets are largely in NW Oklahoma/S Kansas. So it makes no sense for them to move most people. If they were to be bought out, they would likely just make this an operations office (although I imagine most of the top corporate folks may transfer).
> 
> I have noticed their stock price has been pretty flat, and I've said all along that if their stock doesn't increase, shareholders are going to push for a sale. So this is something people may have to start taking seriously.


I agree, a buyout by an international company without much of a US presence is probably the best scenario out there for Sandridge and OKC, possibly even better than remaining independent.

----------


## ou48A

Shell to Investors: "We're Not in Kansas Anymore" (RDS-A)


Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) is joining a growing list of oil and gas companies that are abandoning the Kansas portion of the Mississippi Lime. The company has decided to put its entire position up for sale. That includes the 45 producing wells it has drilled, as well as 600,000 acres. The reason is pretty simple: The economic returns are not there and so its only option is to exit. 

Shell isn't the first company to give up on Kansas. Major North American drillers Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK  ) , Encana (NYSE: ECA  ) and Apache (NYSE: APA  ) have all been out of the state for more than a year. None could earn a high enough economic return to justify the investment to continue drilling there.

The problem is that energy companies have encountered too much water and not enough oil. This has forced them to drill saltwater disposal wells in order to avoid the expense of trucking out the produced water. The other issue is that some wells come online and produce a few hundred barrels of oil per day, while some produce just a few dozen barrels of oil daily. That makes it tough for producers to earn a quick enough payback on the initial investment. 

*The only company that really has seemed to find the right formula to unlock the play's oil is SandRidge Energy (NYSE: SD  ) . The company has chosen to make the expensive up-front infrastructure investments to drill disposal wells and to build out electric infrastructure to power its wells without requiring expensive generators to extract the oil. Having paid up to put the infrastructure, the company can focus its drilling around that core position to earn a more-than-adequate 50% internal rate of return.* 
Its core position actually includes three counties in the state, which shows that it's not so much Kansas that is the problem, but instead having a focused position built around infrastructure. This will actually enable SandRidge to selectively add to its position around its core because its infrastructure is such a competitive advantage.

That said, don't expect SandRidge to go on an acquisition spree and lock up all the acreage in Kansas that its competitors don't want. The company is backing away from exploring much further north into Kansas as it already has the potential to drill 3,000 wells within its core acreage. That's not to mention the emerging opportunities to drill additional wells within its core to take advantage of the stacked pay potential of other zones.

That puts companies such as Shell and Chesapeake at a disadvantage because there just aren't a lot of willing buyers with the capital and the patience to develop the acres that both companies would like to unload. Apache and Encana don't make likely buyers, either. Encana is refocusing its business to run at optimal levels to improve returns. Meanwhile, Apache thought that the 880,000 net acres it scooped up from Kansas to Montana held 3 billion barrels of oil, but it's actually working to trim back its portfolio in order to drive returns from only its most promising prospects such as the Permian Basin. Bottom line, neither company will be going all out to drill in Kansas anytime soon. 

There is clearly oil and gas in Kansas, but it will take the right companies to develop those resources. It could turn out that the best operators will be either a foreign or a private buyer as it's pretty clear that most other investors are leery of the Mississippian as it runs north into Kansas. However, for the right company with the right focus, the Mississippian has the potential to be a solid play. It's just not the right play for a major oil company like Shell nor is it well suited for companies such as Chesapeake, Apache or Encana that are looking for higher returns to appease investors.

----------


## bradh

interesting, thanks for sharing

----------


## ou48A

It's always interesting to see how different Oil & NG company’s all with great minds make different decisions and how some get the  formula right while others do not.

This area of Kansas has a fair amount of preexisting supporting infrastructure, which is very helpful.
The areas population is friendly to the industry. Its the same way in the Oklahoma part of this play.

----------


## ou48A

Folks who are interest in Oil and NG waterless fracing might find this article about Gasfrac Energy Services interesting.. 

http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/...itics/?pgNum=1

----------


## PhiAlpha

I know several of the primary contractors working for Shell up there and all said the same thing...Shell wasn't successful because of too much corporate red tape which required them to spend way more money then anyone else to operate there. Just as an example, they were required to build, massive, elaborate wellsites that were 2 to 3 times the size of Sandridge and other companies' locations because that was what Shell required. They spent way too much unnecessary money on things that smaller operators weren't required to do. I met several times with the company that sold Shell their first major position in the Kansas Mississippi play and they had been laughing the whole time about how inefficient they were. They called this a year ago. As another example, they offered to sell Shell all of their saltwater disposal wells in addition to the acreage (Miss wells produce a ton of water, making SWD wells necessary) but Shell refused because disposal wells were too much of a "liability". Instead, Shell not only paid them for the SWD wells, but also paid that company to operate the wells for them. Shell overpaid them for those assets and had been out of the domestic energy game too long to know how to properly manage them. Really hilarious.

----------


## catch22

I'm looking at investing some money in the stock market. (Some -- a small percentage of my overall cash).

Sandridge is trading at around 6... At 6 I can get a pretty good number of shares, and could make a decent return if it went up in value over the next year or so.

Does anyone see this as stable? Energy prices are up across the board, especially natural gas. And if the economy continues to improve, energy prices will continue to go up.

----------


## AP

> I'm looking at investing some money in the stock market. (Some -- a small percentage of my overall cash).
> 
> Sandridge is trading at around 6... At 6 I can get a pretty good number of shares, and could make a decent return if it went up in value over the next year or so.
> 
> Does anyone see this as stable? Energy prices are up across the board, especially natural gas. And if the economy continues to improve, energy prices will continue to go up.


They're probably still somewhat undervalued. I bet it's a safe bet, but obviously wouldn't put all my eggs in that basket, or the energy sector for that matter.

----------


## Teo9969

Don't look at the number of shares you can buy.

Buying 5 shares of CLR and seeing it go up from ~$110 to $121, is no better or worse than buying ~90 shares of SD and seeing it go from $6 to $6.60.

Find a company you think is going to improve by a decent percentage and go with that company regardless of the stock price.

For comparison sake, CLR is at $109.82 and has had a 52 week low/high $72.35/$121.78 (-34.1%/+10.9%) and SD $4.52/$6.96 (-26.5%/+13.4%)

I'd go with CLR over SD for a variety of reasons: It's not nearly as volatile and still has a lot of upside. SD has been all over the map recently.

And if you're going to play with a volatile stock, I'd look into OEDVit's been a favorite of a lot of Oklahomans.

Lastly, make sure you're ready to part with your money. Investing in individual stocks you *will* see your positions/account in the redif you can't look at 25% loss and stick it out, then I'd avoid it altogether. The psychology is a lot trickier than I ever thought it would be. If you're anything like me, you'll be surprised by how greedy you can get and how well you can deal with losses. 

I also don't know how trustworthy the market is at this very particular point in time. Lots of moving parts all over the world economy and I don't know that anything is really trustworthy, but least of all the stock market.

----------


## catch22

Well the number of shares is somewhat relevant. Trades cost 9.99 (with the firm I am using) so that is $20 added to my order (I will need a transaction fee to sell later so 9.99x2=20). 5 shares of CLR bought at 90 would have to be sold no less than $94.00 to break even. 100 shares of SD bought at 6.00 would have to be sold at $6.20 to break even.

----------


## Teo9969

You'ere not comparing apples to apples.

5 @ 90 = $400
100 @ 6 = $600

If you're investing in just one stock, the number of shares doesn't really matter.

----------


## catch22

My point is, the $20 overhead needs to be reflected in the stock price. Is a $4 increase of stock price a safe bet for 5 shares? With more shares of a cheaper stock, that $20 is spread out, where 100 shares would equal a $0.20 overhead per share. 

I'm not disagreeing with you, CLR looks to be a sound investment, but I can't afford the number of shares to reduce my overhead per share. If that makes sense.

----------


## zookeeper

> Well the number of shares is somewhat relevant. Trades cost 9.99 (with the firm I am using) so that is $20 added to my order (I will need a transaction fee to sell later so 9.99x2=20). 5 shares of CLR bought at 90 would have to be sold no less than $94.00 to break even. 100 shares of SD bought at 6.00 would have to be sold at $6.20 to break even.


Have you ever thought about changing brokers? Firsttrade is inexpensive and top-notch. Up to 100 trades are free the first 60 days and from then on, just $6.95. It adds up.

----------


## Teo9969

> My point is, the $20 overhead needs to be reflected in the stock price. Is a $4 increase of stock price a safe bet for 5 shares? With more shares of a cheaper stock, that $20 is spread out, where 100 shares would equal a $0.20 overhead per share. 
> 
> I'm not disagreeing with you, CLR looks to be a sound investment, but I can't afford the number of shares to reduce my overhead per share. If that makes sense.


If you invest $1000 regardless of what stock you invest in, your overhead is 2% (+1% for every additional selloff of your original position + tax liability), which means to break even you need to see at >2% gain in your stock. A $4 gain for a $100 stock is reasonable. A $4 gain for a $10 stock is typically not. It's obviously possible, there are periods of time where $250 stocks double over the course of a few months. So when you're buying one stock, it doesn't really matter if the price is $2.50 or $250, you just need to be confident that the price of that stock is going to increase by a percentage that you deem worthy of your investment.

The only difference is that you have more flexibility when it comes time to sell. With a 5 share stock, you can only sell in increments of 20%, with a 100 share stock you can sell in increments of 1%but remember you'll be charged every time you sell, so you're likely to sell both of those off in equitable percentages (i.e. you're not going to sell 5% of a position at a time, given how much money it sounds like you're investing (under $10k)

I get the sense that if you're wanting to invest in SD, you want to have a chance for at least something like a 50% return. If you want a real chance at large growth, you either need to have some insight into why a stock is going to get a high rate of return, or you need to study up on some more risky small-cap or micro-cap stocks (like OEDV: The price right now is $1.14, and it has been back and forth between $0.90 and $1.80 for the last 2 years).

If you really just want to start investing in something to see conservative monetary growth and you want to buy individual stocks, you should look into some of the MLPs that disburse dividends >5% which can be tax free, and that also have a upside in share price. They're generally safer investments than a stock like SD.

----------


## AP

What are you looking for growth wise? Are you wanting something stable and conservative or something a little more risky with the potential to be big? Like Teo said, for the latter, small-cap is going to give you the best chance to make some money. It just kinda depends on what your goals are for investing your money. Many young people around our age are less risk averse than older investors and tend to go for the riskier small-cap, with the knowledge that if you do lose it now you have plenty of time to earn it back.

----------


## catch22

I'm looking to just balance my total money.

Right now I have about 60% in pure cash (as in physical bills in a safe).

I have about 30% of my total money in a 401k (That I am contributing to with a company match) and about 10% in various bank accounts.

I'm trying to move about 10-20% of my pure cash into stocks. Right now I am moving approximately 8% of my pure cash into the market, or would like to. I'd like to achieve a good ratio of slow-growth but stable stocks, and a little bit into riskier investments, which could potentially make money, but if they lost money would be a smaller exposure and hit.

While I love pure cash, the thought of being one natural disaster or short in a faulty wire away from losing 60% of my money is a little unnerving. And pure cash is losing value to inflation every day. Without using absolute numbers (and not trying to brag -- just trying to give some detail as to why I am trying to balance my exposure), I have a lot of cash bills saved (5 digits), and the more it grows the more worried I am about a robbery, fire, or tornado. And bank accounts are paying very little in interest.

----------


## Teo9969

> I'm looking to just balance my total money.
> 
> Right now I have about 60% in pure cash (as in physical bills in a safe).
> 
> I have about 30% of my total money in a 401k (That I am contributing to with a company match) and about 10% in various bank accounts.
> 
> I'm trying to move about 10-20% of my pure cash into stocks. Right now I am moving approximately 8% of my pure cash into the market, or would like to. I'd like to achieve a good ratio of slow-growth but stable stocks, and a little bit into riskier investments, which could potentially make money, but if they lost money would be a smaller exposure and hit.
> 
> While I love jumping into my bed of pure cash, the thought of being one natural disaster or short in a faulty wire away from losing 60% of my money is a little unnerving. And pure cash is losing value to inflation every day. Without using absolute numbers (and not trying to brag -- just trying to give some detail as to why I am trying to balance my exposure), I have a lot of cash bills saved (5 digits), and the more it grows the more worried I am about a robbery, fire, or tornado.


It's still subject to theft, but I'd think you would want at least some of your overall portfolio to include precious metals (silver/gold/platinum) and might be a good direction to go for the time being. Since you already have 30% of your worth tied to the stock market via 401k, why not forego the slow-growth/stable stocks, gamble whatever you're willing to lose on a small/micro-cap stock or two, and then diversify the rest into different holdings.

You still have 100% of your money in the USD, and since real estate seems to be off the table, going precious metals or alternate currencies (many of the emerging market currencies just took a hit and may be a good buy right now) would help shelter your wealth from any loss in value of the USD. The market is not going to be shielded from a devalued dollar, and again, you're already in the market via your 401k.

And some may laugh at me, but you might also consider a life insurance policy, if you don't have one already. You're young, so they're cheap, and the whole-life policies in particular can build quite a bit of value.

Lastly, if you're committed to going with stocks, you might look into some mutual funds rather than buying single stocks, although I do like the MLP option.

----------


## catch22

> It's still subject to theft, but I'd think you would want at least some of your overall portfolio to include precious metals (silver/gold/platinum) and might be a good direction to go for the time being. Since you already have 30% of your worth tied to the stock market via 401k, why not forego the slow-growth/stable stocks, gamble whatever you're willing to lose on a small/micro-cap stock or two, and then diversify the rest into different holdings.
> 
> You still have 100% of your money in the USD, and since real estate seems to be off the table, going precious metals or alternate currencies (many of the emerging market currencies just took a hit and may be a good buy right now) would help shelter your wealth from any loss in value of the USD. The market is not going to be shielded from a devalued dollar, and again, you're already in the market via your 401k.
> 
> And some may laugh at me, but you might also consider a life insurance policy, if you don't have one already. You're young, so they're cheap, and the whole-life policies in particular can build quite a bit of value.
> 
> Lastly, if you're committed to going with stocks, you might look into some mutual funds rather than buying single stocks, although I do like the MLP option.


Thanks for the help. I have never really been concerned about my money in the past, but as I am getting older and begin to grow and acquire assets, it's been looming on my mind to start investing/diversifying my overall value.

As my 401k is "untouchable" (in the sense that I have restrictions and penalties on my access to it (and would not access that money anyway unless it was a dire emergency)), I wanted to put some of my "touchable" money into something that has the chance to earn money while I am not using it, but still have access to it if I need it.

I haven't purchased anything yet, I still would like to invest some of my cash into stocks, just need to find the right one(s). But this is starting to go off topic now.  :Smile:  Maybe could start a different thread.

----------


## AP

> Lastly, if you're committed to going with stocks, you might look into some mutual funds rather than buying single stocks, although I do like the MLP option.


My next suggestion was going to be a mutual fund.

----------


## PhiAlpha

Not surprising, but news none the less. Definitely speaks to the inconsistency of the Miss Lime in Kansas.

http://m.newsok.com/sandridge-to-let...rticle/3946278


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## catch22

Sandridge beat the street today in Q1 ER. $0.07 EPS v. $0.03. 

Stock up 3.5% in after-hours trading, should easily pass 52 week high of $7.10 soon. 

Conference call tomorrow morning to discuss earnings.

----------


## OklahomaNick

Was looking for a "Sandridge Business Practices" thread but could not find one.

Anyone have any insight or analysis on Sandridge's stock price right now? It's really undervalued, which makes me think it's a good value to buy, but that is also attractive for investors to buy the company cheap. Why is their stock so lagging?

----------


## catch22

Small cap energy stocks have been getting hit hard the past month or so. 

If you can hold on to it for a few months to a year SD at this price is a good buy. If you are looking for short term action (Swing/momentum, etc.) it's a poor stock to own.
HK is also a good buy, it's been hammered down. It's similarly priced, and has some potential with the up and coming TMS (Tuscaloosa Marine Shale) play.

Disclosure: I don't have a position in SD. I'm long HK.

----------


## onthestrip

Sandridge's stock hit a 52 week high just a couple months ago and then the market took a dive. Im sure in the long run it will be fine, just will take some time for current management to clean up the prior messes. But Im not sure I have much faith in the market as a whole right now.

----------


## NWOKCGuy

Sandridge Exec to Lead New BP US Unit

----------


## PhiAlpha

Sandridge is continuing the vertical disintegration trend and is spinning off an MLP for its midstream and saltwater disposal business units. Likely a smart move, with all the water being produced in the northern part of the state, the new MLP could almost certainly pick up more business. It will also of course allow sandridge to focus on its E&P activities.

SandRidge to spin off wastewater business | NewsOK.com

----------


## Plutonic Panda

SandRidge delays earnings after SEC raises questions | News OK

----------


## Scotty22

Sandridge announced that they will be closing their Lariat Services company in the Permian fields.  Sandridge will be continuing to operate in the area however the services subsidiary will shutter in that same area.

Not surprising considering the slowdown of other operators in that location.

----------


## BillyOcean

^^^^^

sd...dead company walking.

----------


## Just the facts

...but who is going to pay for the maintenance and operating costs of their park?

----------


## ljbab728

SandRidge Energy Corp. to close Texas office | NewsOK.com




> SandRidge Energy Corp. said Monday it plans to close the Odessa, Texas, office of its subsidiary Lariat Services Inc., eliminating all 265 positions there.
> Monday’s announcement does not affect the company’s exploration and production operations or its 1,132 SandRidge employees, Wilson said. Before the cuts, Lariot has 695 employees.

----------


## Edgar

remember the company's righteous arrogance when preservation people questioned razing historic buildings including the India Temple for another zombie apocalypse  downtown green space. OKC seems like it's just repeating sad history.

----------


## Scotty22

On Monday Sandridge was asked to shutdown one of their salt water injection wells near Cherokee.  That's a big deal since the SWD areas and the infrastructure surrounding those are the key points amongst all of the completion wells that have already been drilled.  Will increase the cost to ship that water somewhere else down the line.  The biggest reason SD does well in the mississipian area is because of their salt water infrastructure.  Wonder if this will be a continuing trend.  

State orders injection well shut down after northwestern Oklahoma earthquake | News OK

----------


## adaniel

Damn, shoulda bought me some SD stock. Up over 80% in the past two weeks. 

I guess Wall Street thinks this steaming pile of oil covered cow dung is worth something.

----------


## catch22

> Damn, shoulda bought me some SD stock. Up over 80% in the past two weeks. 
> 
> I guess Wall Street thinks this steaming pile of oil covered cow dung is worth something.


Shorts are covering their positions. It's a short squeeze. Monster volume.

----------


## Just the facts

I guess I don't understand that logic.  Are you saying pulling oil and gas trapped in rock from one location and pumping toxic chemical infused water into rock at another location makes an 'even-Steven' situation?

----------


## Stickman

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclus...--finance.html

This story on Yahoo.

----------


## DoctorTaco

> http://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclus...--finance.html
> 
> This story on Yahoo.


8 Rigs? Wow. That is not very many rigs. 

Not many companies out there with an 8 rig drilling program that also own their own skyscraper....But then again that's none of my business.

----------


## bchris02

This is becoming more troubling.

Hopefully oil makes its way back to $70 quickly.

----------


## Pete

I moved a ton of posts here:

http://www.okctalk.com/current-event...rthquakes.html

----------


## Scotty22

Sandridge has started notifying employees today of terminations in the corporate office and the field.  Not sure if it's going to be pretty prevalent or low impact.

----------


## Pete

I wonder if they may have a plan to consolidate to the Parkside Building.

As far as I know, they haven't leased any of the space out and they certainly can't be using the entire tower.

Seems to me they could move into the Parkside and then have a pretty ready, willing and needing buyer in Harold Hamm for the tower.

----------


## bchris02

I noticed last night the tower wasn't lit up and was wondering if that might be due to cost cutting at Sandridge. Of course they could have just forgot to turn it on much like the way the Skydance Bridge and the Devon Tower aren't lit from time to time. I really think Sandridge should consolidate into the Parkside Building and sell the tower to Continental. Not many energy companies that are in the shape SD is in have skyscrapers.

----------


## mimino

Read some of the articles about SD here and judge what kind of fin condition they're in: SD Stock News - SandRidge Energy, Inc. Stock | Seeking Alpha

----------


## Pete

^

Yeah, those articles paint a pretty dire picture.

Basically, they've burned through a ton of cash and will need a capital infusion to keep funding their operations.

Their stock is only trading at $1.53 and the last two price targets were $.50 and $0.

----------


## Just the facts

> Originally Posted by bchris02
> 
> 
> I really think Sandridge should consolidate into the Parkside Building and sell the tower to Continental.
> 
> 
> Yeah, those articles paint a pretty dire picture.
> 
> Basically, they've burned through a ton of cash and will need a capital infusion to keep funding their operations.
> ...


I am being serious here - they might not be able afford the Parkside Building even though they own it.  If moving wasn't so expensive they could lease out there current office space and rent cheaper (FNC) space for themselves with the proceeds.

----------


## bchris02

How many employees are currently working for Sandridge? If they went under, how big would the blow be to OKC?

----------


## ljbab728

> How many employees are currently working for Sandridge? If they went under, how big would the blow be to OKC?


If Wikipedia is accurate, they have 2,200 employees.  Of course, that may not be just in OKC.

----------


## bchris02

Does anybody know why the tower has been dark for the past week or so?  It completely changes the look of the skyline at night having it dark.  I am guessing it could be because of cost cutting measures at Sandridge but I am not completely sure.  I know they are still doing a lot of construction over there.

----------


## mimino

> Does anybody know why the tower has been dark for the past week or so?  It completely changes the look of the skyline at night having it dark.  I am guessing it could be because of cost cutting measures at Sandridge but I am not completely sure.  I know they are still doing a lot of construction over there.


Call their desk service and see if they can route you to whoever is responsible for the building lights.

----------


## jn1780

Seems like only yesterday that they were running around in bulldozers knocking down historical buildings. Now they can barely keep the lights on.

----------


## Stickman

Maybe there is hope.
3 Ways SandRidge Energy Inc. Is Boosting Its Returns (SD)

saw this on the web.

----------


## Just the facts

So I guess they won't be funding the maintenance of the park?.  You know what would look good there - a skinny residential tower.

----------


## Pete

I know I had previously post that SD & CHK were kicking in money to redo the parks and that SandRidge would maintain them and help program.

I'm very sure the first part is true because I found the agreement with the City but can't to verify the maintenance and programming part.

However, Kerr McGee always maintained the park since it opened in 1974 and until they moved away, so I assume that is the same arrangement with SD.

----------


## Pete

From checking webcams, I can see SD tower has been dark now for a couple weeks.

This is starting to feel ominous.

----------


## bchris02

> From checking webcams, I can see SD tower has been dark now for a couple weeks.
> 
> This is starting to feel ominous.


Whenever the darkened tower coincided with the announcement of layoffs I had a feeling it was a cost-cutting measure. They must be in a pretty dire situation if they have had to resort to that.

It really does alter the feel of downtown at night to have that tower dark. I am hoping it eventually ends up in Continental's ownership.

----------


## Richard at Remax

My sister got let go this morning. Granted she had a job that I'm surprised that lasted this long (HR/travel coordinator) but still. I expect to hear more news on layoffs. Especially since I saw the email they sent to employees saying they aren't paying for snacks anymore and reevaluating janitorial services.

----------


## Pete

> My sister got let go this morning. Granted she had a job that I'm surprised that lasted this long (HR/travel coordinator) but still. I expect to hear more news on layoffs. Especially since I saw the email they sent to employees saying they aren't paying for snacks anymore and reevaluating janitorial services.


Wow, janitorial services?  Why would they even tell employees that?

The tower continues to be dark every night; quite the metaphor.

----------


## jn1780

I guess the tower is about to be smelly and trashy as well as being dark. 

Future Memo. 
" In order to save costs employees must bring toilet paper from home and workstations must be powered for four hours of the work day."

----------


## bchris02

> I guess the tower is about to be smelly and trashy as well as being dark. 
> 
> Future Memo. 
> " In order to save costs employees must bring toilet paper from home and workstations must be powered for four hours of the work day."


Do they own the tower?  It's about time the sell it if they do.  They could probably get a hefty sum for it and then consolidate into class-B office space or the Parkside building.

----------


## Just the facts

Sorry to hear about your sister's job.  Is Sandridge actually profitable?

----------


## DoctorTaco

Sandridge layoff chatter heating up:

SandRidge Energy Inc. Layoffs - TheLayoff.com

----------


## Pete

I was told 30% layoffs at SD of the 300 to 500 people that work downtown.

----------


## Richard at Remax

For what its worth my sis said 100+ so those numbers are probably accurate

----------


## Urbanized

Seems the activist shareholders did quite the job in righting the ship.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I was told 30% layoffs at SD of the 300 to 500 people that work downtown.


Heard the same.

----------


## BillyOcean

can't believe they waited this long.  after the layoffs they need to officially announce they are up for sale.  it does no good to delay as every day they wait, they get closer to bankruptcy.

----------


## bchris02

SandRidge Energy to lay off 132 | News OK

----------


## gopokes88

> can't believe they waited this long.  after the layoffs they need to officially announce they are up for sale.  it does no good to delay as every day they wait, they get closer to bankruptcy.


Their balance sheet looks fine. They'll pull through.

----------


## Of Sound Mind

> can't believe they waited this long.  after the layoffs they need to officially announce they are up for sale.  it does no good to delay as every day they wait, they get closer to bankruptcy.


Is that why its stock price went UP after they announced the layoffs?

----------


## BillyOcean

> Is that why its stock price went UP after they announced the layoffs?


1 hour/day/week of positive gain in stock price means absolutely nothing to the overall health of a company.  Additionally, not sure where you get your stock prices, but they are currently in the red for the day (and it has nothing to do with layoffs).

----------


## Anonymous.

A huge group of SD employees that got laid off are drinking in DD right now. Hell of a [sh!tty] way to start your 3 day weekend.

----------


## zookeeper

> A huge group of SD employees that got laid off are drinking in DD right now. Hell of a [sh!tty] way to start your 3 day weekend.


So many corporations treat people like dirt when they're through with them. I'm not religious, but I respect those who are, and for many people this is a holy weekend with a deep emotional tie. To do this on Good Friday is reprehensible - but all too typical - corporate behavior.

----------


## Just the facts

I have worked at several companies who demand loyalty from their employees - right up until they lay them off, then its "there's the door; we need to save some money for the next 6 months".

----------


## jccouger

Oil companies are generally some of the most unethical companies in any industry. They typically abuse the environment, they hoard money and price gouge customers when things are going good and they are quick to terminate employment when things turn bad. They never stop patting them selves on the back either. 

They make, or made, a lot of money for our state so they are quick to throw their weight around too and basically make & enforce laws & planning as they see fit. Its truly a wild wild west / mad men industry.

----------


## blangtang

I heard 6 months of salary as severance

----------


## Teo9969

> I heard 6 months of salary as severance


Rough…

I wonder if one could make a hell of a living over a few years getting laid-off with a 6 month severance and within a couple months finding another troubled but stable company that's still hiring and work there until you get laid off a year later with another 6 months of severance and find another job that you can stick with for a couple years. In 24 months, you could be out of work for 6 months and collect 30 months worth of salary. Then get fired again with another 6 months of severance and start a consulting firm that you use to contract labor at all 3 of your previous places of employment using the connections and skills you learned at those places.

----------


## Scotty22

> I heard 6 months of salary as severance


That's correct.  Every single department across the board got hit.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be though.  I figured we would be hit by about 30-40% layoffs.  For instance one department I know of with 50 people only had 3 people laid off.  Was expecting closer to 10 people.

----------


## BillyOcean

> That's correct.  Every single department across the board got hit.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be though.  I figured we would be hit by about 30-40% layoffs.  For instance one department I know of with 50 people only had 3 people laid off.  Was expecting closer to 10 people.


Agreed that the number seems low due to the current shape of the company and the huge reduction of rigs from 30+ to 8.  I think there will be more layoffs in next 60-90 days.  20% just isn't enough if they are truly trying to save the company.

----------


## Bellaboo

> Oil companies are generally some of the most unethical companies in any industry. They typically abuse the environment, they hoard money and price gouge customers when things are going good and they are quick to terminate employment when things turn bad. They never stop patting them selves on the back either. 
> 
> They make, or made, a lot of money for our state so they are quick to throw their weight around too and basically make & enforce laws & planning as they see fit. Its truly a wild wild west / mad men industry.


Oil companies are also some of the better employers as far as high pay goes. When times are good, a lot of folks do real well.

----------


## Just the facts

6 months severence will certainly soften the blow.  Heck, they might have even had some volunteers for that offer.

----------


## bchris02

> 6 months severence will certainly soften the blow.  Heck, they might have even had some volunteers for that offer.


That is actually extremely generous especially if the lower-level employees were also included.  I was laid off during the recession of 2008 with no severance at all.  Only management got severance.

----------


## ctchandler

I agree, six months pay across the board is generous, but the layoffs at Hertz in the last few years have been much more generous.  I know a lot of folks that received in excess of one years pay.  I don't know what the low end was though, it might have been less than six months. 
C. T.

----------


## onthestrip

> Oil companies are generally some of the most unethical companies in any industry. They typically abuse the environment, they hoard money and price gouge customers when things are going good and they are quick to terminate employment when things turn bad. They never stop patting them selves on the back either. 
> 
> They make, or made, a lot of money for our state so they are quick to throw their weight around too and basically make & enforce laws & planning as they see fit. Its truly a wild wild west / mad men industry.


And the fact that so many in the industry make use of "contractors" and not declare them "employees." Even though if you look at the legal definition, they should be considered employees and should get the benefits of such. Ive always thought there could be some kind of lawsuits, class action or otherwise, against a lot of businesses over this.

----------


## catch22

I'm sure all of those employees are happy they just spent millions building a park and fitness center.

----------


## Dubya61

> Oil companies are generally some of the most unethical companies in any industry. They typically abuse the environment, they hoard money and price gouge customers when things are going good and they are quick to terminate employment when things turn bad. They never stop patting them selves on the back either. 
> 
> They make, or made, a lot of money for our state so they are quick to throw their weight around too and basically make & enforce laws & planning as they see fit. Its truly a wild wild west / mad men industry.


Bull****.  All business entities are out to make money.  Some do it with ethics.  Some don't.  Some do it realizing that the workforce is an asset you must take care of.  Some don't.  Get over your grudge about oil companies.  You'd sing a completely different tune if you had a decent amount of stock tied up in oil companies.

----------


## Pete

There is no loyalty between companies and employees any more; in either direction.

People are quick to criticize layoffs but then don't think twice about jumping ship for a better offer, even after a company has invested heavily in training, etc.

And companies are generally at the mercy of activist shareholders who demand steady and constant profits and escalating stock prices.

It's the way it works these days and it's naive to expect anything more.

----------


## jccouger

> Bull****.  All business entities are out to make money.  Some do it with ethics.  Some don't.  Some do it realizing that the workforce is an asset you must take care of.  Some don't.  Get over your grudge about oil companies.  You'd sing a completely different tune if you had a decent amount of stock tied up in oil companies.


So you are telling me there aren't varying cultures across different industries? Of course each business is different, but there are very distinct personalities in different industries & it just so happens the oil industry is one of the most unethical & greedy. I dont hold any grudges, I just call it like I see it. You mad bro? 

Also, I've invested a substantial portion of my portfolio in energy at this recent downturn.

----------


## Pete

Oil and gas has always, always been boom and bust and therefore much more prone to big layoffs.

On the other side, that industry has also created tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of new jobs in OKC in just the last 10-15 years.

----------


## Dubya61

> So you are telling me there aren't varying cultures across different industries? Of course each business is different, but there are very distinct personalities in different industries & it just so happens the oil industry is one of the most unethical & greedy. I dont hold any grudges, I just call it like I see it. You mad bro? 
> 
> Also, I've invested a substantial portion of my portfolio in energy at this recent downturn.


You've said it exactly correctly:  "There are varying cultures across different industries."  This is correct.
You've also said it exactly wrong:  "The Oil Industry is one of the most unethical and greedy."  This is incorrect.
Different business entities have different cultures and methods just like different people have different personalities.
To say that the Oil Industry is all one way is like saying all of any one type of people are all one way.
Further, it appears you're hoping to profit from their unethical and greedy practices.  What does that say about you?

----------


## jccouger

> You've said it exactly correctly:  "There are varying cultures across different industries."  This is correct.
> You've also said it exactly wrong:  "The Oil Industry is one of the most unethical and greedy."  This is incorrect.
> Different business entities have different cultures and methods just like different people have different personalities.
> To say that the Oil Industry is all one way is like saying all of any one type of people are all one way.
> Further, it appears you're hoping to profit from their unethical and greedy practices.  What does that say about you?


You are misquoting me. My original post said "Oil companies are *generally* some of the most unethical companies in any industry." which excludes the notion that ALL are. The industry as whole though is farely unethical. How can you prove this is incorrect?

I've never claimed to be a saint myself. I guess the phrase "it takes one to know one" could work here.  :Smile:

----------


## Pete

I do think it's fair to say that oil and gas attracts people of a certain personality; modern day wildcatters who are aggressive and bold.

The industry reminds me a lot of commercial real estate in that both have lots of wheeler-dealers, frequently with plenty of machismo.

Lots of money to be made in both fields and both very inclined towards big fortunes and spectacular failures.

----------


## Dubya61

> You are misquoting me.


No.



> My original post said "Oil companies are *generally* some of the most unethical companies in any industry." which excludes the notion that ALL are. The industry as whole though is farely unethical. How can you prove this is incorrect?


Yeah, I guess.  Your original post said:



> Oil companies are generally some of the most unethical companies in any industry.  ...


Then, a subsequent post said:



> ... & it just so happens the oil industry is one of the most unethical & greedy.


I was not misquoting you.



> The industry as whole though is farely unethical. How can you prove this is incorrect?


How can you prove it's correct?

----------


## jccouger

> How can you prove it's correct?


They price gouge on a commodity. 
They put their employees in some of the most dangerous situations of any industry.
They are quick to terminate employment, or use third party employment providers to avoid benefits.
They refused to take blame for an increase in seismic activity, despite scientific proof.
They use other techniques that are harmful to the environment (off shore drilling, chemicals, using a TON of water)

----------


## bradh

> They price gouge on a commodity. 
> They put their employees in some of the most dangerous situations of any industry.
> They are quick to terminate employment, or use third party employment providers to avoid benefits.
> They refused to take blame for an increase in seismic activity, despite scientific proof.
> They use other techniques that are harmful to the environment (off shore drilling, chemicals, using a TON of water)


Guess we need to stop drilling.  Please turn in your (fill in the blank with the hundreds of devices you use daily derived from petroleum)

You can blame the pricing on the markets and financial players.  Speculators are more the driving force there.

Using contractors is no unique to O&G

They also pay their employees very well for working in those "dangerous situations."  Would I want to do it?  Not really, but you can't pay a guy scraps to put himself in that environment.

----------


## pw405

> They price gouge on a commodity. 
> They put their employees in some of the most dangerous situations of any industry.
> They are quick to terminate employment, or use third party employment providers to avoid benefits.
> They refused to take blame for an increase in seismic activity, despite scientific proof.
> They use other techniques that are harmful to the environment (off shore drilling, chemicals, using a TON of water)


Correct me if I am wrong here... but if oil companies could "price gouge",  we wouldn't be experiencing this downtown in oil prices.  They would just continue to sell it for an expensive price right?  

I am quite surprised that Sandridge gave 6 months severance.  Heck, by then the price of oil might go back up!

Looking at the most recent rig count data (North America Rig Count | BakerHughes.com)  it appears the rig count has continued to fall this week. Last year at this time, there were 1,498 rigs drilling for oil.  This week, there are 802.  With 692 fewer rigs constructing new wells, we should begin to see total US production decrease in the coming 3-6 months.  Hopefully, this will help increase prices.  Boone Pickens predicts crude will return to the $70 range by year end.  I tend to agree. 

The silver lining in all of this is that oil companies will learn new ways to bring oil to market with lower costs.  Lower costs will help this sector of OK's economy to have better margins once commodity prices are more in line with the average over the past few years.  

I hope that Sandridge is able to survive.  While they have never been a huge employer, they do help add some variety to the OKC energy landscape.

----------


## Bellaboo

> *They price gouge on a commodity.* 
> They put their employees in some of the most dangerous situations of any industry.
> They are quick to terminate employment, or use third party employment providers to avoid benefits.
> They refused to take blame for an increase in seismic activity, despite scientific proof.
> They use other techniques that are harmful to the environment (off shore drilling, chemicals, using a TON of water)


I'm not too sure that you know how commodity prices work ?

----------


## jccouger

> I'm not too sure that you know how commodity prices work ?


uhhhhh, what? It just means basically every company is selling the same thing so they can't differentiate their own product. Suppliers can sell their product for what customers will pay for it, but once buyers realize there is a **** ton of oil available they can start demanding their own price.

Oil was selling for HUGE margins, which is why so many people got involved in the industry which caused the over supply. They were GOUGING prices with these HUGE margins. Buyers just wisened up & realized if company X was selling higher than company Y, they'd use it as leverage to eventually get prices down.

----------


## pw405

> uhhhhh, what? It just means basically every company is selling the same thing so they can't differentiate their own product. Suppliers can sell their product for what customers will pay for it, but once buyers realize there is a **** ton of oil available they can start demanding their own price.
> 
> Oil was selling for HUGE margins, which is why so many people got involved in the industry which caused the over supply. They were GOUGING prices with these HUGE margins. Buyers just wisened up & realized if company X was selling higher than company Y, they'd use it as leverage to eventually get prices down.


You seem to still believe that the oil companies can set the price of crude.

----------


## Bellaboo

> uhhhhh, what? It just means basically every company is selling the same thing so they can't differentiate their own product. Suppliers can sell their product for what customers will pay for it, but once buyers realize there is a **** ton of oil available they can start demanding their own price.
> 
> Oil was selling for HUGE margins, which is why so many people got involved in the industry which caused the over supply. They were GOUGING prices with these HUGE margins. Buyers just wisened up & realized if company X was selling higher than company Y, they'd use it as leverage to eventually get prices down.


You have no clue what you're talking about. I have close relatives who owns an O&G company. Go check out how pit commodities fluctuate. Also keep in mind the geo-political factors that can affect a commodity price.

----------


## mimino

> You have no clue what you're talking about. I have close relatives who owns an O&G company. Go check out how pit commodities fluctuate. Also keep in mind the geo-political factors that can affect a commodity price.


Don't forget the dollar strength either.

Employees are always the byproduct of the business environment. Do not ever think you are irreplaceable. Read the news, follow your industry, and hone your skills. Always.

----------


## jccouger

> You have no clue what you're talking about. I have close relatives who owns an O&G company. Go check out how pit commodities fluctuate. Also keep in mind the geo-political factors that can affect a commodity price.


Did you really just pull the I know somebody who knows somebody card?  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 

You realize these are businesses right? Yes, the price of oil listed based on futures effects the public perception of what oil should be sold for. People are not locked in to the cost of what the market says oil should be at, its just a tool used by buyers so they know they are getting a fair deal. 

Why do you think the cost of oil dropped so dramatically?  Eventually, supply (AKA all the businesses that are selling oil) catches up to itself & if there are a TON of places to buy oil from than buyers can use that as leverage and drive the cost down. 

This isn't just a stock market game, these are REAL businesses operating in a REAL world where prices & costs fluctuate based on what people will pay for them. Once one side has more leverage they control the cost. When Oil companies had more leverage they were price gouging customers.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Did you really just pull the I know somebody who knows somebody card? 
> 
> You realize these are businesses right? Yes, the price of oil listed based on futures effects the public perception of what oil should be sold for. People are not locked in to the cost of what the market says oil should be at, its just a tool used by buyers so they know they are getting a fair deal. 
> 
> Why do you think the cost of oil dropped so dramatically?  Eventually, supply (AKA all the businesses that are selling oil) catches up to itself & if there are a TON of places to buy oil from than buyers can use that as leverage and drive the cost down. 
> 
> This isn't just a stock market game, these are REAL businesses operating in a REAL world where prices & costs fluctuate based on what people will pay for them. Once one side has more leverage they control the cost. When Oil companies had more leverage they were price gouging customers.


You should really consider picking up a book on how commodity pricing works...

----------


## jccouger

> You should really consider picking up a book on how commodity pricing works...


Cool rebuttal, bro.

Believe it or not, Supply & Demand is a little more real life than the little infographic in your Macro Economics text book.

All these commodity pricing experts, & yet nobody saw this oil crash coming. Shocking.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Cool rebuttal, bro.
> 
> Believe it or not, Supply & Demand is a little more real life than the little infographic in your Macro Economics text book.
> 
> All these commodity pricing experts, & yet nobody saw this oil crash coming. Shocking.


Yes... Supply and Demand is real life and oversupply caused the crash...which completely contradicts your claim that Oil and Gas companies were price gouging. If US O&G companies were really colluding to set the price, why would production have continued to sky rocket while demand flattened over the last year? Why would Oil and Gas companies willingly cause the price of oil to plummet by intentionally out producing the demand?

----------


## Just the facts

> Yes... Supply and Demand is real life and oversupply caused the crash...which completely contradicts your claim that Oil and Gas companies were price gouging. If US O&G companies were really colluding to set the price, why would production have continued to sky rocket while demand flattened over the last year? Why would Oil and Gas companies willingly cause the price of oil to plummet by intentionally out producing the demand?


Not to get involved in this part of the discussion too much, but the answer to your question is to gain market share.  If a company (or country) can drive down price and put their competition out of business they gain market share and reap huge rewards when the price goes back up.

----------


## jccouger

> Yes... Supply and Demand is real life and oversupply caused the crash...which completely contradicts your claim that Oil and Gas companies were price gouging. If US O&G companies were really colluding to set the price, why would production have continued to sky rocket while demand flattened over the last year? Why would Oil and Gas companies willingly cause the price of oil to plummet by intentionally out producing the demand?


They were price gouging. I know there are a lot of factors associated with what somebody is willing it pay for something, and the price index on the stock market was a huge influence, but that is besides the point that these companies were charging a huge margin on Oil & making a fortune on it. Is that their fault? No, of course they should be trying to make money. The reason why the oil crash happened was because so many people wanted a part of this easy money so they created too much supply, buyers eventually caught on to this despite high prices listed on the exchange. Once there were a ton of places to buy oil, buyers could leverage this against many sellers & drive costs down. 

There is obvious collusion in the oil market, have you never heard of OPEC? I know that is outside of the US, but the US was still using a colluded price to set their own prices. Oil companies got away with screwing customers for a very long time.

----------


## Bellaboo

> *Did you really just pull the I know somebody who knows somebody card?* 
> 
> You realize these are businesses right? Yes, the price of oil listed based on futures effects the public perception of what oil should be sold for. People are not locked in to the cost of what the market says oil should be at, its just a tool used by buyers so they know they are getting a fair deal. 
> 
> Why do you think the cost of oil dropped so dramatically?  Eventually, supply (AKA all the businesses that are selling oil) catches up to itself & if there are a TON of places to buy oil from than buyers can use that as leverage and drive the cost down. 
> 
> This isn't just a stock market game, these are REAL businesses operating in a REAL world where prices & costs fluctuate based on what people will pay for them. Once one side has more leverage they control the cost. When Oil companies had more leverage they were price gouging customers.


At least I'm not Bulls!_______ you on this. I'm from a real life industry perspective here.

----------


## jccouger

Sorry guys, this post isn't related but I know I come off as an asshole sometimes. I'd rather just have an honest discussion but I tend to let my emotions take control of my wording sometimes.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> *There is obvious collusion in the oil market, have you never heard of OPEC?* I know that is outside of the US, but the US was still using a colluded price to set their own prices. Oil companies got away with screwing customers for a very long time.


That's why I said US oil and gas companies, as that is the topic being discussed in this forum and they were the entities you accused of price gouging. Obviously OPEC is a cartel and by definition colludes to set the price.  

I disagree with your claim that US companies were colluding/price gouging as it is contrary to everything I've learned about commodity pricing and experienced first hand on the oil and gas marketing side of the business but as I can see there is little chance to change your opinion on it, I'll agree to disagree and bow out.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Not to get involved in this part of the discussion too much, but the answer to your question is to gain market share.  If a company (or country) can drive down price and put their competition out of business they gain market share and reap huge rewards when the price goes back up.


As far as OPEC goes, no doubt and they've basically admitted to it.

----------


## Teo9969

> They were price gouging. I know there are a lot of factors associated with what somebody is willing it pay for something, and the price index on the stock market was a huge influence, but that is besides the point that these companies were charging a huge margin on Oil & making a fortune on it. Is that their fault? No, of course they should be trying to make money. The reason why the oil crash happened was because so many people wanted a part of this easy money so they created too much supply, buyers eventually caught on to this despite high prices listed on the exchange. Once there were a ton of places to buy oil, buyers could leverage this against many sellers & drive costs down. 
> 
> There is obvious collusion in the oil market, have you never heard of OPEC? I know that is outside of the US, but the US was still using a colluded price to set their own prices. Oil companies got away with screwing customers for a very long time.


The reason this oil crash happened is because the shale boom increased US production significantly and Saudi Arabia was starting to lose market share. So Saudi Arabia said "no dice" and refused to slow down production (if not increase it) when oil-prices started to come down, and it filled the market with fear and there was a fire sale. All those predicting $30 oil have yet to come close to that (Hasn't broke $40 yet, IIRC), and it looks like the low is in the $40s. Saudi did this because they knew it would drive out competitors like Russia and Venezuela (even though those 2 are part of their cartel) and that it would hurt US production and force us to at least slow down. The problem for $30 oil is that the demand for oil is higher than expected even at $45. 

The $30-$50 price-point may yet be seen if we actually fill out reserve tanks, but the production has already slowed on our side, so after that short period of time to sell off, the price will likely creep back toward $90 and hopefully settle for a bit of time in the $65 - $80 range for awhile.

----------


## Teo9969

And the reason it's not price gouging is because volatility in oil prices is obscene. You need to sell at $110/bbl when you can, even if you could sell it for a decent profit at $80/bbl, because you never know when it's going to plummet to $45/bbl and you'll be operating at a loss or have to make severe cutbacks in a matter of months.

Furthermore, as oil leans higher, everybody involved with the business starts taking a bigger cut. So you can blame the big bad oil companies all you want, but shippers, insurers, rig producers, engineers, etc. etc. all demand more money when the price starts going higher because they know they can get it. So blame just the oil companies all you want, but it's quite basic economics that shows us that there is sizable demand for oil at even $100/bbl. The problem is the market has been over-producing, not price gouging.

----------


## Just the facts

> As far as OPEC goes, no doubt and they've basically admitted to it.


So did T. Boone Pickens when he went from Drill Baby Drill to Don't Drill.

To get an interesting perspective of the thought process of mineral extractors, watch Gold Rush on Discovery Channel.  You can see both philosophies ay play; the extract everything as fast as you can at all costs, and the go slow keep cost down approach.

----------


## jccouger

> That's why I said US oil and gas companies, as that is the topic being discussed in this forum and they were the entities you accused of price gouging. Obviously OPEC is a cartel and by definition colludes to set the price.  
> 
> I disagree with your claim that US companies were colluding/price gouging as it is contrary to everything I've learned about commodity pricing and experienced first hand on the oil and gas marketing side of the business but as I can see there is little chance to change your opinion on it, I'll agree to disagree and bow out.


I mean that US companies are indirectly colluding, because they use the OPEC colluded price as a selling point for their own oil. Once OPEC decided to get in a price war the US had to drop theirs as well.

----------


## jccouger

> The reason this oil crash happened is because the shale boom increased US production significantly and Saudi Arabia was starting to lose market share. So Saudi Arabia said "no dice" and refused to slow down production (if not increase it) when oil-prices started to come down, and it filled the market with fear and there was a fire sale. All those predicting $30 oil have yet to come close to that (Hasn't broke $40 yet, IIRC), and it looks like the low is in the $40s. Saudi did this because they knew it would drive out competitors like Russia and Venezuela (even though those 2 are part of their cartel) and that it would hurt US production and force us to at least slow down. The problem for $30 oil is that the demand for oil is higher than expected even at $45. 
> 
> The $30-$50 price-point may yet be seen if we actually fill out reserve tanks, but the production has already slowed on our side, so after that short period of time to sell off, the price will likely creep back toward $90 and hopefully settle for a bit of time in the $65 - $80 range for awhile.





> And the reason it's not price gouging is because volatility in oil prices is obscene. You need to sell at $110/bbl when you can, even if you could sell it for a decent profit at $80/bbl, because you never know when it's going to plummet to $45/bbl and you'll be operating at a loss or have to make severe cutbacks in a matter of months.
> 
> Furthermore, as oil leans higher, everybody involved with the business starts taking a bigger cut. So you can blame the big bad oil companies all you want, but shippers, insurers, rig producers, engineers, etc. etc. all demand more money when the price starts going higher because they know they can get it. So blame just the oil companies all you want, but it's quite basic economics that shows us that there is sizable demand for oil at even $100/bbl. The problem is the market has been over-producing, not price gouging.


Fair points on all accounts. I don't fault the Oil companies from getting money when they could get it, I'd do the same thing if in their position. The price levels that Oil was at proved to be unsustainable however, which is a tell tell sign that they were setting too high of a price. Its not all just based on over supply, demand actually started to decrease at levels that high.

----------


## Bellaboo

> Sorry guys, this post isn't related but I know I come off as an asshole sometimes. I'd rather just have an honest discussion but I tend to let my emotions take control of my wording sometimes.


Real life here - I appreciate you wanting the honest discussion. In April of 2005, this small oil company bought a conventional gas well in Caddo County that was deemed non productive, at an auction for $15,000. The small oil company put another $15,000 into the well, they logged and fracked at a little higher pay zone. By June, this well started producing over 900,000 cu ft per day of NG along with some condensate. In the summer of 2005, Hurricane Katrina more or less shut down hydrocarbon production in the Gulf of Mexico. NG prices shot to over 13.00 per thousand. This well combined with the other 2 wells this small firm owned, and still owns and operates, paid the 2 owners over 1 million each for the next few years. In this case it was a natural disaster, not the oil companies that were gouging, currently the oil price fall has come from Saudi Arabia (ARAMCO), to punish Russia and Iran in a geo - political mess. Last week, the news was that crude was almost topped out at Cushing, and guess what happened, the oil prices has risen from the mid 40's to over 51 as of this morning. Go ahead and blame the oil companies for gouging, and i'll blame the speculators, the cost of money, a terrorist revolution in the Middle East, Wall Street, natural disasters and also supply and demand.

I'd like to add this - In 1974, I remember that the price at the pump went from about .25 cents to somewhere around $1.00. It's was due to the Arab oil embargo. But the majority of the populace was complaining about oil companies price gouging. TEXACO then began running commercials that portrayed every day Americans, from farmers to businessmen. Their theme was that their shareholders consisted of these every day folks and that they are TEXACO.

----------


## Teo9969

> Fair points on all accounts. I don't fault the Oil companies from getting money when they could get it, I'd do the same thing if in their position. The price levels that Oil was at proved to be unsustainable however, which is a tell tell sign that they were setting too high of a price. Its not all just based on over supply, demand actually started to decrease at levels that high.


Demand decreases at every increase in price. Equilibrium in oil has never really been a thing, that's why it's tough to call it price gouging. The term price gouging has a pretty darn negative connotation to it, so you have to realize that if you use it, anybody on the other side of the fence is going to take that as shots-fired.

----------


## bradh

As someone said earlier, it's the trickle down industries that price gouge.  Look at hotel rates in Midland during boom times.  Even then, if the market allows it, get it while you can.

----------


## gopokes88

Oil prices are extremely complex. You are all wrong and all right at the same time.

In the past it basically works like such.

WTI Supply side
Oil skyrockets. Everyone and their mom starts drilling for oil. However it can take a long time for all that oil to over-saturate the market and cause the price to crash but eventually it does. Then everybody cuts back, often too far back and the price goes back up when the supply gets too low. Everybody left starts to drill again but the market has shrunk so much it takes a little while to get everything rolling again. This basically repeats itself.

WTI Demand side
Demand for oil products (which is basically every product in the world) can fall or grow this affects prices. 2009 comes to mind the recession. Manufacturing was essentially 0 and there wasn't much demand for crude.

OPEC.
Opec often in the past has been the market leveler on the demand side to balance out supply. Non-opec cuts too far back and isn't drilling enough? Open the flood gates and balance the market back out. Demand shrinks, or non-opec produces too much? Opec cuts production and maintains higher prices. 2007 comes to mind during peak oil fears. The Saudis starting upping production to make more $ but also to alleviate pressure. Leads me to the next point...

Fear
Fear is always a huge factor in oil. There's a premium right now on crude because of the fighting in Yeman and simple fear the strait could shut down. 

United States export ban
We used to import a tremendous amount of oil because our supply was tight, but now supply is ample and we are on our way towards crude independence. However this is partially creating the supply glut because 25% of US refiners are setup to process heavy sour, while US oil is light sweet crude. (Also important, those 25% refiners are foreign owned and have vested interest in refiners heavy sour). We are hitting the 75% capacity of US refiners and that is causing builds in Cushing (along with the strike, and seasonal maintenance). A lot of people are pushing to life the export ban of raw crude because Asian refineries are setup for light sweet crude. We would ship to Asia and flip our refiners back to heavy sour. This is still playing out and it is very complex.

Changing Attitudes
Opec, specifically Saudi Arabia no longer wants to be the one who balances the scale in oil prices. In my personal research the general reason why is this. Opec meets, meeting concludes we're oversupplied by 500,000 BPD. Saudi says ok we'll cut 250,000 barrels the rest of you cut 250,000. Fair? Ok cool. Market stabilizes (this further fuels the shale boom). Cuts start but they come up short, members like Iran, Venezuela, and somewhat Libya don't cut production and increase it a little bit. SA's market share erodes. This repeats over and over. SA finally gets tired and basically says we're not cutting we're rich and we'll bleed you dry, killing American Shale is a side benefit. (Keep in mind we're now SA's #2 customer and currently can't touch their #1 China due to export ban). Look at the state of Venezuela's economy. It's working. This event more or less furthers the oversupply crash. Oil had been crashing but there was an expectation opec would cut to balance it out. 

Traders
These guys take a lot of heat but in the long run they don't matter too much. They will manipulate daily prices but they make their money on arbitrage, daily spreads, predicting rig counts, supply and demand numbers.

I've left out several other factors because I haven't read enough into them. Specifically the credit side of things in oil and gas lending. 

The point is the oil markets are very very very complex. This is a partial 30,000 foot view. You can't make blanket statements that Oil and Gas companies are price gouging and ripping off. It's not even remotely that simple. You sound like one of the people who blame Bush for the recession but know absolutely nothing about**: credit swaps, investment banking, subprime lending, the fed funds rate, who the fed chairmen even is, Glass-Stegall Act, CRA, what the hell this guy is talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMnSp4qEXNM, fannie mae, freddie mac, why banks failing is toxic on the economy, etc. 
The basic principle is this. Opec used to rig markets.  WTI is boom and bust because of the delay high and low prices have on the supply of oil factored in with fluctuating demand.

Also consider how freaking large the oil market is. Currently the world uses 34 billion barrels of oil per year or 93million per day. That means annually at today's prices ($55) $1.87 trillion dollars of oil is used per year or $5.115 billion per day. Those numbers nearly double if the price is $100. For someone to claim an entity not named Opec could manipulate oil prices is absurd much less a hack wall street trader. There isn't a company in America with the necessary capital or power it would take. BTW even opec couldn't manipulate it forever, their manipulation kept oil high and the shale boom came along and crashed prices.

----------


## ou48A

> Oil prices are extremely complex. You are all wrong and all right at the same time.
> 
> In the past it basically works like such.
> 
> WTI Supply side
> Oil skyrockets. Everyone and their mom starts drilling for oil. However it can take a long time for all that oil to over-saturate the market and cause the price to crash but eventually it does. Then everybody cuts back, often too far back and the price goes back up when the supply gets too low. Everybody left starts to drill again but the market has shrunk so much it takes a little while to get everything rolling again. This basically repeats itself.
> 
> WTI Demand side
> Demand for oil products (which is basically every product in the world) can fall or grow this affects prices. 2009 comes to mind the recession. Manufacturing was essentially 0 and there wasn't much demand for crude.
> ...


This^ is a great post by gopokes88 that I suggest everyone read in detail. Unfortunately Im nowhere near as articulate as gopokes88 but my 50 years of exposure to the oil & NG business tells me that what he says on this thread is very accurate.

If a young person who is earning even modest money learns how to invest the boom and bust cycles of the energy industry  that gopokes88  talks about and stays disciplined over 30 to 40 years they can retire very comfortably and maybe at a fairly early age. The high rates of return on timely energy investments can be very rewarding.

----------


## Scotty22

Thanks gopokes, that was very educational regardless of how high a footage view it was.

----------


## jccouger

I'll admit I'm very uneducated on the subject compared to experts, but I'm glad my ignorance led to this discussion! I've learned a lot & thanks gopokes for the in depth analysis.

----------


## Bellaboo

> I'll admit I'm very uneducated on the subject compared to experts, but I'm glad my ignorance led to this discussion! I've learned a lot & thanks gopokes for the in depth analysis.


We all grow a bit with these types of dialog.

----------


## ljbab728

This probably isn't a big surprise but it's interesting news, as per Steve.
SandRidge selling headquarters, other downtown properties | NewsOK.com



> SandRidge Energy is looking to sell its downtown corporate headquarters as part of a deal that will include a long-term lease back of the company’s 30-story tower and 862-space garage.
> The portfolio, which will be listed early next week, includes the 30-story, 500,000-square-foot SandRidge Tower; the 10-story, 85,000-square foot Braniff Building; the new seven-story, 84,000-square foot Parkside Building; and the 862-space Broadway Kerr Parking Facility. Both the tower and the Braniff Building were extensively renovated in 2013.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> This probably isn't a big surprise but it's interesting news, as per Steve.
> SandRidge selling headquarters, other downtown properties | NewsOK.com


Also interesting, or at least notable, that the Broadway lots won't be included in the sale. I would assume they are going to be marketed separately to a developer?

----------


## jccouger

> Also interesting, or at least notable, that the Broadway lots won't be included in the sale. I would assume they are going to be marketed separately to a developer?


Its gotta be because parking is a valuable business in Downtown OKC. Its probably making them money, so why sell those?

----------


## Rover

Buyers for developed property aren't necessarily the same as for undeveloped property. Given that they are selling the buildings together in a portfolio I don't find it unusual they would separate out the undeveloped surface lots.

----------


## Motley

Is this good for the CBD or of little consequence?

----------


## BillyOcean

not a pretty picture...

Is SandRidge Imploding After Earnings? (NYSE: SD) - 24/7 Wall St.

----------


## Pete

> We continue to reduce activity as we wind down from a rig count of 35 at the close of 2014 to an average of seven rigs in the back half of 2015. While we had capital expenditures of $322 million in the first quarter, we are reducing spending sharply in the second half of this year in line with our guidance of $700 million. This fiscal discipline coupled with operational efficiency gains provide options to improve our balance sheet as we actively evaluate alternatives to bring our cash generation and debt levels in line.


Wow, they cut their rig count by 80% and are selling off their buildings...

This looks very dire.

----------


## Teo9969

> Wow, they cut their rig count by 80% and are selling off their buildings...
> 
> This looks very dire.


They spent half of their 2015 CAPEX in the 1st quarter when oil prices were amid their downward spiral. Couple that with their selling off of real estate and pulling their costs down heavily makes it look like they're looking for cash. The question is for what?

They're certainly not operating under "business as usual" type behavior. So something major is about to happen in some direction.

Somebody who is familiar with the industry know @ what stock-price a buyout starts becoming likely?

----------


## blangtang

This is part of the 2012 gripe filed by that activist investor TPG.  

They had some keen foresight, unfortunately they may have been been correct in their diagnosis, but their investment went the opposite direction.
● 

Management and Director Perks:  Even from the few details disclosed by the company, it is clear that the perks for management and directors are truly extraordinary by any standard.  The company pays almost $1 million year to provide personal accounting services to Mr Ward.  The company spends millions of dollars each year sponsoring the Oklahoma City Thunder (of which Mr. Ward is a co-owner), and pays for luxury suites for the basketball team.  One of the largest perks is private jet usage.  *Many companies provide some degree of private jet usage for work travel for senior executives, but few have the air force that SandRidge does.  Prior to the IPO in 2007 (when expenses were actually borne by Mr Ward), the company owned one old and small jet and two old propeller airplanes to transport executives and workers.  Once shareholders were bearing the cost, Mr Ward decided to upgrade  now the company has four jets (two of which are large size intercontinental jets, and one of which is one of the most expensive jets in the market), and over 15 full time employees dedicated to maintaining and flying these jets.  Most companies require executives to use jets only for work, and to compensate the company for personal usage.  SandRidge provides unlimited personal usage for Mr Ward  last year that included dozens of personal flights to Scottsdale (Mr Wards vacation home), and numerous weekend trips to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, the Bahamas, etcall paid for by shareholders.*  It is extraordinary that a company that has needed to issue equity 5 times in 5 years, has the highest cost of debt of any comparable company, and has faced bankruptcy, has chosen to invest tens of millions of dollars in private aircraft ownership, and then spend many millions each year in expensesand for personal use, not just company needs!

● 

Other Expenses:  Despite the fact that the company does not provide details on its massive overhead spending, it is clear to us that enormous sums are being spent on wasteful or vanity expenses.  The company spends many millions each year on television advertising  other than ego gratification, why does a small E&P company need to heavily advertise on TV?  *The company spends massive amounts of money on real estate in Oklahoma City  far in excess of what would be sensibly needed (and including many fully-owned buildings, and real estate development projects).*  We cannot explain the enormous number of employees the company has at headquarters (almost 700), and it is remarkable that the company has doubled the number of general employees at its Oklahoma City headquarters over the past five years.  *Yet, the company appears to have real estate assets and investments far in excess of what would be needed even by this number of employees.*  In addition, the co-mingling of business and personal matters is present in the companys real estate expenses and investments as well  for example, SandRidge provides real estate for many of Mr Wards personal interests, and pays one Director over $500,000 per year in real estate lease payments.

We provide these details, not to be salacious, but to provide examples of the numerous items that aggregate into overhead that is extraordinary in any context.  One might sensibly think that SandRidge would have a lean and efficient level of overhead, given its narrow and dense nature of operations.  Instead, most of the $200 + million that is spent appear to be in excessive compensation, perks, and extraneous activities.  These expenses are a massive drain on the company.  When one combines the extraordinary cost of debt capital with the even more extraordinary level of overhead expenses, it becomes clear why the stock has performed as poorly as it has.  No company, in any industry, can survive when 10  15% of the total market capitalization is siphoned off each year, leaving the company with a massive handicap relative to competitors.

To put these sums in another context, I suspect your shareholders would never invest in a mutual fund that charged 10  15% management fees and expenses, each and every year, especially if the fund had disastrous performance.  After all, that would be an obvious recipe for disastrous net returns over time.  Yet, that is exactly what is happening at SandRidge.  And, it appears that things are getting worse, not better.  In response to the immense challenges the company has faced this year (collapse in the stock price, issuing equity, significant downgrades in cashflow projections, etc.) the company response has been to spend even more money on compensation and perks.  In the recent 3rd quarter conference call, management had the nerve to announce that they would be increasing corporate overhead by 10% in the coming year!  *And, despite the challenges this year, the company decided (this spring) that Mr Ward needed a better plane, and purchased a Falcon 900EX for his exclusive business and personal use.  For reference, the Falcon 900EX is one of the most expensive private business jets made, with new list price of over $35 million, and flying range of almost 6,000 miles.  Given that every employee and asset of the company is within a 500 mile radius of headquarters, it seems obvious that a $35 million plane with 6,000 flying mile range is for CEO gratification, not business necessity.
*
p12-1903exhibit1.htm

All said, Tom Ward is an interesting character!

----------


## AP

Isn't this exactly what Aubrey was doing as well at CHK? When I watched the OKC movie recently, I noticed they interviewed both TW and AM, and Larry Nichols. After seeing how they handled themselves in those interviews it was very apparent to me why DVN is performing so well and both CHK and SD have major had issues in the recent past.

----------


## mimino

> Isn't this exactly what Aubrey was doing as well at CHK? When I watched the OKC movie recently, I noticed they interviewed both TW and AM, and Larry Nichols. After seeing how they handled themselves in those interviews it was very apparent to me why DVN is performing so well and both CHK and SD have major issues in the recent past.


Just because they are POS in their personal life, doesn't "necessarily" make them bad executives (visionaries, businessmen, etc.). The world of sports/entertainment is overflowing with these characters, yet their on-stage performance is loved by many. Money corrupts. I'm not sure I have an example ready of a person that would be a good counter-example. Everybody has skeletons.

----------


## LakeEffect

> They spent half of their 2015 CAPEX in the 1st quarter when oil prices were amid their downward spiral. Couple that with their selling off of real estate and pulling their costs down heavily makes it look like they're looking for cash. The question is for what?
> 
> They're certainly not operating under "business as usual" type behavior. So something major is about to happen in some direction.
> 
> Somebody who is familiar with the industry know @ what stock-price a buyout starts becoming likely?


I'm not sure, but I once heard someone say that Sandridge was so leveraged, and their stock price was already so low, that no one even wanted to buy them... my assumption after that statement is that other companies will let Sandridge fail and buy any appreciable assets in the fire sale, rather than the entire company. I could be completely wrong - I'm not an oil & gas analyst.

----------


## BillyOcean

this could be the nail in the coffin.....

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sandr...000632352.html

----------


## Just the facts

There seems to have been a fundamental misunderstanding of the differences between running a private corporation and a public corporation.

----------


## Stickman

Is SandRidge Imploding After Earnings? (NYSE: SD) - 24/7 Wall St.

    Here is another story

----------


## gopokes88

McClendon was wasteful, very aggressive with debt, and had a general attitude of you can't touch me. But he did a lot of things that benefitted both this community and his employees. Does an energy company really need bees or an employee garden? No, but his employees seemed to like it. 

Ward is just a thief. 

SD isnt getting bought at this point. Only hope is that they can survive. A strategic filing of chapter 11 bankruptcy (allows to renegotiate debts) might be their best course of action.

----------


## wsucougz

Here's a good writeup on the current state of SD:

SandRidge Energy: The Cash Pile Is Gone And Options Are Few - SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SD) | Seeking Alpha

----------


## Pete

You just can't find any independent info on this company that is anything but completely pessimistic.

----------


## zookeeper

It really comes down to one word: Greed.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> It really comes down to one word: Greed.


Thats true if you're anti-capitalist and/or don't have any understanding of what has been going on at sandridge for the last 8 years. 

It has a lot more to do with making the decision to lease 2 million acres in one play, sell the rest of their assets  outside of that, and then the results in most of that play falling far below expectations. However, continuing throwing out whatever you would like as long as it fits your narrative.

----------


## zookeeper

> Thats true if you're anti-capitalist and/or don't have any understanding of what has been going on at sandridge for the last 8 years. 
> 
> It has a lot more to do with making the decision to lease 2 million acres in one play, sell the rest of their assets  outside of that, and then the results in most of that play falling far below expectations. *However, continuing throwing out whatever you would like as long as it fits your narrative.*


And again, I could say the same thing. Frankly, I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees you as the Pro-Energy Thread Police here at OKCTalk. 

All I did was state an opinion. You chose to include the slap at me - because I am an economic populist and my views aren't voiced around Oklahoma a lot. Why the personal attack?

----------


## PhiAlpha

> And again, I could say the same thing. Frankly, I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees you as the Pro-Energy Thread Police here at OKCTalk. 
> 
> All I did was state an opinion. You chose to include the slap at me - because I am an economic populist and my views aren't voiced around Oklahoma a lot. Why the personal attack?


Frankly, I'm sure I'm not the only one here that sees you as the OKCTalk anti-energy industry/anti-capitalism police. When you or anyone else posts something way offbase, I'm going to call you out on it. Sorry if you take offense to that.

You stated an opinion as if it was fact and I responded with what is actually happening at Sandridge. As a former pissed off stockholder in SD, I have a pretty good feel for what is happening there and haven't been very happy about it for awhile. 

I went overboard with the personal attack and apologize for that. I was annoyed with your comments in the oil price thread and let it carry over.

----------


## s00nr1

SandRidge Energy stock falls with debt exchange | Watch the video - Yahoo Finance

----------


## Swake

> SandRidge Energy stock falls with debt exchange | Watch the video - Yahoo Finance


Getting really close to sinking under $1 a share. That leads to delisting and very few companies ever survive that. It's bankruptcy time.

----------


## bchris02

> Getting really close to sinking under $1 a share. That leads to delisting and very few companies ever survive that. It's bankruptcy time.


Do you think they will get bought out or go completely belly up?

----------


## Swake

> Do you think they will get bought out or go completely belly up?


Looking at the SEC filings they have very little cash and a ton of debt compared to revenue. They are bleeding cash and knowing who started the company I would be afraid the balance sheet may not even tell the whole story anyway with special deals or other items that may be hidden off the balance sheet. 

As cheap as the stock is, if they were going to be bought out, they already would have been. They just have too much debt compared to their assets to be bought out. 

Samson Resources in Tulsa is in much the same boat. KKR bought it in 2011 for $7.2 billion and now the company is just too leveraged to survive with current energy prices.

----------


## LakeEffect

> Looking at the SEC filings they have very little cash and a ton of debt compared to revenue. They are bleeding cash and knowing who started the company I would be afraid the balance sheet may not even tell the whole story anyway with special deals or other items that may be hidden off the balance sheet. 
> 
> As cheap as the stock is, if they were going to be bought out, they already would have been. They just have too much debt compared to their assets to be bought out. 
> 
> Samson Resources in Tulsa is in much the same boat. KKR bought it in 2011 for $7.2 billion and now the company is just too leveraged to survive with current energy prices.


Yeah. Why buy it and assume debt when you can watch them go bankrupt and buy their assets at auction or via a receiver w/out the liability?

----------


## adaniel

I'm not one for scare mongering, but SD is in a lot of trouble. I'm privy to some of their internal issues through my job. 

Their hedges start expiring this summer. If prices aren't up at least to $70/bbl I imagine they'll fall into BK. I think the only question at this point is will they be able to restructure their debts and be viable or will the shareholders just pull the plug and liquidate the company. 

Samson is an interesting case. That's pretty much a dead company walking.  They are not even running any rigs right now. IMO I think the only reason they are not in BK is the Shustermann family is trying to untangle the handful of assets they still have with them. Once they do, it will probably be a matter of time,

----------


## gopokes88

Exactly why take on their debt when you can buy their assets for pennies on the dollar.

----------


## Swake

> Samson is an interesting case. That's pretty much a dead company walking.  They are not even running any rigs right now. IMO I think the only reason they are not in BK is the Shustermann family is trying to untangle the handful of assets they still have with them. Once they do, it will probably be a matter of time,


I thought Samson Energy (Stacy Schusterman) was completely separated from Samson Resources years ago? Resources kept the domestic stuff and Energy got foreign and offshore?

Stacy made out like a bandit on this, she definitely "sold high". I wonder if she would buy Samson Resources out of bankruptcy for pennies on the dollars that she pocketed?

----------


## Just the facts

Just curious, but if Sandridge sells their downtown property what other assest do they have?  When you lease land to an oil company do they own all the oil or only what they recover?

----------


## adaniel

> I thought Samson Energy (Stacy Schusterman) was completely separated from Samson Resources years ago? Resources kept the domestic stuff and Energy got foreign and offshore?


For the most part yes, but Samson still internally manages a lot of their personal mineral interests. A lot of these are actually still in Samson's name as of record. I know they are furiously trying to get their own interests into their own family managed entities, probably to prevent any of their assets from being caught up in any sort of possible liquidation.

----------


## Bellaboo

> Just curious, but if Sandridge sells their downtown property what other assest do they have?  When you lease land to an oil company do they own all the oil or only what they recover?


All depends on the lease. You can buy an existing well and only get those minerals at the well head. You can buy a lease from someone and get anywhere from 82 to 75 % of royalty. When that lease expires and if you fail to produce, if there is no extension clause, then at term the lease expires and all reverts back to the mineral owner. It's a complicated mess.

----------


## Just the facts

Thanks Bellaboo.  With that in mind, if SD declares bankruptcy what happens to the leases they hold, if anything?  Can the landowner renegotiate them?

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Thanks Bellaboo.  With that in mind, if SD declares bankruptcy what happens to the leases they hold, if anything?  Can the landowner renegotiate them?


It would obviously depend on the terms agreed upon in each individual lease, but generally no they could not. If SD did not plan to reorganize and filed Chapter 7, all of their assets, including O&G leases, wells, surface facilities, etc would be liquidated. After the sale they would be assigned to the purchaser similarly to a normal divestiture. 

As an exception, certain leases contain "consent to assign" provisions that require the lessor's consent to assign the lease. Depending on the language, assigning a lease without consent could void the lease. I'm not sure how such provisions would be handled in a bankruptcy liquidation though as I've never handled one.

----------


## bchris02

SandRidge Energy Inc.'s credit rating is lowered | News OK

----------


## Just the facts

> Their hedges start expiring this summer. If prices aren't up at least to $70/bbl I imagine they'll fall into BK.


Did you see the quote from Harold Hamm today that they sold off all their hedges to raise cash in the fourth quarter?  That is the ultimate hedge right there because you can only do that once.  Any idea that CLR will buy the SD campus looks to be pure fantasy at this point.  If oil doesn't hit HH's $85 price there might be more than one downtown tower on the market.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Did you see the quote from Harold Hamm today that they sold off all their hedges to raise cash in the fourth quarter?  That is the ultimate hedge right there because you can only do that once.  Any idea that CLR will buy the SD campus looks to be pure fantasy at this point.  If oil doesn't hit HH's $85 price there might be more than one downtown tower on the market.


Continental is a $17 Billion diversified company that can still make money without being hedged in the Bakken and SCOOP down to around $45 per barrel. 

Sandridge is a $558 Million company that invested way too much cash in one play and can barely make money even with it's hedges. 

Depending on what SD is hoping to get for its HQ, Continental could likely purchase it with the money it plans to spend drilling 20-30 of the 283 wells in the drilling schedule this year. At 31 rigs, they spend more money drilling and completing wells every month, than they would likely need to buy SD's campus. If they want it, they can afford it. 

While I don't think Hamm's decision to sell CLR's hedges was the smartest move he's ever made, don't make the mistake of comparing these to companies in any operational way. Their situations are in no way similar.

----------


## Just the facts

Thanks PhiAlpha

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Thanks PhiAlpha


No problem...here's to SD finding a way out of this...

Though if they don't, I see the potential for a really funny (and ironic) situation to develop if SD goes bankrupt...

Apparently as SD continues to crater... Tapstone is doing pretty well and is generating a lot of interest from potential buyers. I could see a situation in which Tom Ward sells Tapstone and purchases SD's assets out of bankruptcy (or the investors interested in Tapstone invest more money and Tapstone buys SD out of bankruptcy). Hilarity ensues. 

Tom Ward?s Tapstone Energy Fields Interest From Suitors - WSJ

----------


## okatty

> No problem...here's to SD finding a way out of this...
> 
> Though if they don't, I see the potential for a really funny (and ironic) situation to develop if SD goes bankrupt...
> 
> Apparently as SD continues to crater... Tapstone is doing pretty well and is generating a lot of interest from potential buyers. I could see a situation in which Tom Ward sells Tapstone and purchases SD's assets out of bankruptcy (or the investors interested in Tapstone invest more money and Tapstone buys SD out of bankruptcy). Hilarity ensues. 
> 
> Tom Ward?s Tapstone Energy Fields Interest From Suitors - WSJ


Irony at its best!!

----------


## Just the facts

> No problem...here's to SD finding a way out of this...
> 
> Though if they don't, I see the potential for a really funny (and ironic) situation to develop if SD goes bankrupt...
> 
> Apparently as SD continues to crater... Tapstone is doing pretty well and is generating a lot of interest from potential buyers. I could see a situation in which Tom Ward sells Tapstone and purchases SD's assets out of bankruptcy (or the investors interested in Tapstone invest more money and Tapstone buys SD out of bankruptcy). Hilarity ensues. 
> 
> Tom Ward?s Tapstone Energy Fields Interest From Suitors - WSJ


Watch the movie Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year 

Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year (2009) - IMDb

----------


## moose

> No problem...here's to SD finding a way out of this...
> 
> Though if they don't, I see the potential for a really funny (and ironic) situation to develop if SD goes bankrupt...
> 
> Apparently as SD continues to crater... Tapstone is doing pretty well and is generating a lot of interest from potential buyers. I could see a situation in which Tom Ward sells Tapstone and purchases SD's assets out of bankruptcy (or the investors interested in Tapstone invest more money and Tapstone buys SD out of bankruptcy). Hilarity ensues. 
> 
> Tom Ward?s Tapstone Energy Fields Interest From Suitors - WSJ


I don't think their looking for a buyer is a sign of success but rather a sign of pressure from GSO to sell before their hedges roll.  They just made a large acquisition of sub-par assets and are positioned similarly to SD.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I don't think their looking for a buyer is a sign of success but rather a sign of pressure from GSO to sell before their hedges roll.  They just made a large acquisition of sub-par assets and are positioned similarly to SD.


Which acquistion was subpar? They've drilled several good wells in Harper county, Kansas which they acquired  from shell at a major discount and the acreage they bought from Apache out in western ok is pretty good. The article doesn't say they are looking for buyers, it said they're fielding offers and its becuase their assets are good and their debt level is so much lower than most other E&P companies. How does that put them in a position that's anywhere close to that of SD?

----------


## okatty

Agree...SD and CLR are night and day.   Like a pretty good West Conf NBA team (CLR) being compared to a cellar dweller in the East (SD).   :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Agree...SD and CLR are night and day.   Like a pretty good West Conf NBA team (CLR) being compared to a cellar dweller in the East (SD).


More like a pretty good team in the west compared to an average D League team.

----------


## okatty

> More like a pretty good team in the west compared to an average D League team.


OK, I thought a bad team in the East was an average D league team! :Stick Out Tongue:

----------


## Scotty22

With SD going into Selective Default with a lender this is really bad news.  Full on default/bankruptcy could be coming soon.

----------


## moose

> Which acquistion was subpar? They've drilled several good wells in Harper county, Kansas which they acquired  from shell at a major discount and the acreage they bought from Apache out in western ok is pretty good. The article doesn't say they are looking for buyers, it said they're fielding offers and its becuase their assets are good and their debt level is so much lower than most other E&P companies. How does that put them in a position that's anywhere close to that of SD?


Shell could have given them the acreage and it would make little different - 90% of the Miss doesn't work, especially the KS Miss.  Not sure about their Apache acquisition either.  Apache has had a major overhaul in their Midcon division after overpaying for those from Cordillera and Tapstone bought it from them at near top of the market.  I know what the article says however I was told that there is some pressure.

----------


## BillyOcean

^^^^^^^

this is the correct story regarding tapstone...

----------


## Just the facts

I hope whomever buys the Sandridge building they bring a lawn mower and an edger.  I walked through there today and it made me want to come out of yard care retirement.

----------


## ljbab728

Apparently there is some somewhat positive news about them today.  It is tempered by other things.

http://www.oklahoman.com/article/542...1.25%20billion




> “The fact that they haven’t run out of options and that they can still issue debt at this stage is a small victory,” said Jake Dollarhide, president of Longbow Asset Management Co. in Tulsa. “They’re looking to replace higher-yielding debt with lower-yielding debt.”
> Also Thursday, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s raised its debt ratings for SandRidge. S&P boosted its corporate credit rating on SandRidge to “CCC+,” up five notches from selective default (SD). The outlook remained negative. S&P rated SandRidge’s Thursday senior secure note offering at “B,” which is five rungs below investment grade.

----------


## jccouger

> Apparently there is some somewhat positive news about them today.  It is tempered by other things.
> 
> http://www.oklahoman.com/article/542...1.25%20billion


Good move. You following the rumors that they are looking to make some acquisitions?

----------


## BBatesokc

*SandRidge Energy receives delisting notification*

SandRidge Energy receives delisting notification | News OK

----------


## Pete

Ugh.

Things seem to be going from bad to worse for them.

----------


## okatty

About the only thing positive is that its price to book ratio is about .3 which beats the industry and could indicate some value BUT that's grasping for a positive in the face of various negatives.

----------


## soonerguru

Should I buy Chesapeake stock? It's down to about $8.50 a share right now.

----------


## okatty

Good article on Seeking Alpha yesterday on SD.  A summary:

Most writers grudgingly give Sandridge Energy a good chance to survive right now, though challenges clearly remain.
The company has more than a billion in liquidity currently, and stands a decent chance of exiting the year with $700,000,000 in cash plus its $500,000,000 revolving credit line.
Significant cost reductions due to technology improvements continue and will provide unexpected and welcome help to the struggling company.
The 8.5% preferred issue offers an attractive return and goes ex-dividend next week. This is an excellent trade for a few weeks worth of work (potential 21% return).

----------


## okatty

> Should I buy Chesapeake stock? It's down to about $8.50 a share right now.


I thought it was a decent buy and undervalued if it broke thru the $10 barrier - well IT DID! ha    It was upgraded just yesterday by several houses to a "buy".

----------


## okatty

SD down to 31 cents a share....WOW.

----------


## gopokes88

> SD down to 31 cents a share....WOW.


Big volume too. 25 million shares versus 10mil average. Someone unloaded it.

----------


## OkiePoke

They are drilling like crazy still. They are applying for a lot of permits.

----------


## gopokes88

> They are drilling like crazy still. They are applying for a lot of permits.


Hell at this point, why not? If they're going down might as well go down with a fight. At least they might be able to pull some revenue in.

----------


## chuck5815

It was a good day if you're brave enough to own SD. 

Up 37%

----------


## Just the facts

I wonder what percentage of Pinon Gathering Co's revenue came from Sandridge.

----------


## ljbab728

SandRidge acquisition announcement boosts shares almost 40 percent | NewsOK.com

----------


## adaniel

I can't believe it, but this zombie of a company may make it.

SandRidge Energy to buy Colorado acreage | News OK

SD's biggest problem by far was that they went all in on a play that was hard at even $100/bbl. This will given them some badly needed diversification.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I can't believe it, but this zombie of a company may make it.
> 
> SandRidge Energy to buy Colorado acreage | News OK
> 
> SD's biggest problem by far was that they went all in on a play that was hard at even $100/bbl. This will given them some badly needed diversification.


I know the EE3 guys that put that Colorado position together and they had some success with it. Good buy for Sandridge, should help them diversify a bit.

----------


## Plutonic Panda

Oklahoma Corporation Commission preparing court action against SandRidge Energy | News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOKH

----------


## Edgar

Gasp, hopefully SD won't relocate to Houston like they threatened if OKC didn't let them raze the India Temple.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Gasp, hopefully SD won't relocate to Houston like they threatened if OKC didn't let them raze the India Temple.


Dumb comment of the day award winner.

----------


## Stickman

Will Earthquakes Be The End Of Sandridge Energy? - SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SD) | Seeking Alpha

 White knuckle times for SD.   Hope regulation doesn't hurt them.

----------


## Just the facts

> Will Earthquakes Be The End Of Sandridge Energy? - SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYSE:SD) | Seeking Alpha
> 
>  White knuckle times for SD.   Hope regulation doesn't hurt them.


Just waiting for this to happen - because we all know this is the ultimate outcome.  Oklahoma will become the largest superfund site on the face of the earth.  Good luck selling your homes then.




> •If the state pushes too hard, companies in the state could turn the worst problems over to the state through bankruptcy, saddling the taxpayers with the cost of the solution.

----------


## Urbanized

^^^^^^
Good grief, Kerry.

----------


## Spartan

We have all enabled and supported SandRidge. We could have made it more difficult for them to do business. They didn't need the red carpet to tear down an entire downtown block, secure a Thunder sponsorship, weave around regulations, and cause more earthquakes. We lent them an aura of legitimacy and invincibility that they shouldn't have had, and it allowed them to get away with their questionable business practices.

When they fail it is going to be messy. I hope they don't, but it is pretty inevitable. Kerry says a lot of "oh good grief" kinda things, but it just is what it is when it comes to SandRidge. I am not at all surprised that they're the first to challenge our voluntary earthquake restrictions, designed to enable fracking to carry on full steam ahead unless a single well is linked to a single earthquake. Now we're talking about dumping the ridiculously weak earthquake regs to save SandRidge.

Why do people care so much about this one medium-sized company that has caused so much damage ever since they came here?

----------


## Dubya61

> Why do people care so much about this one medium-sized company that has caused so much damage ever since they came here?


Maybe because there are humans involved that will be affected.

----------


## Just the facts

> ^^^^^^
> Good grief, Kerry.


If Sandridge goes out of business who do you think picks up the liability bill?  It will be the taxpayers.  Oklahoma has a nearly billion short-fall already and this could place billions more on top of that.  Are Oklahoma's ready for the level of taxation it will take to cover that cost?  I seriously doubt it - but they are going to have to pay it anyhow.




> Maybe because there are humans involved that will be affected.


I just don't think a few hundred jobs are worth all the widespread environmental damage being done.

----------


## Urbanized

The "good grief" was directed at your almost gleeful prediction of Oklahoma being a massive superfund site and everyone's homes becoming worthless. Sometimes I'm convinced that you WISH for bad things to happen in our state and town just so that you can log on to OKCTalk and remind us of how much the people living here have lost our way, of how much smarter you are than the rest of us dumb Okies.

You of course are not the only poster who does this, and it has become really, REALLY tiring. I know quite a few informed and well-connected people whose participation would add much here, but who won't join the conversation it because the overall small percentage of bombastic and negative posts like that one colors their opinion of the entire site.

It's a blight on the forum, and disrespectful to Pete and to other posters who work to make this an informed, civil place to share thoughts, information and ideas.

/end rant

----------


## Just the facts

> The "good grief" was directed at your almost gleeful prediction of Oklahoma being a massive superfund site and everyone's homes becoming worthless. Sometimes I'm convinced that you WISH for bad things to happen in our state and town just so that you can log on to OKCTalk and remind us of how much the people living here have lost our way, of how much smarter you are than the rest of us dumb Okies.


You are confusing prediction with desired outcome.  If State government gets saddled with this liability they are most likely going to need the feds to help - and that help will come in the form of a Superfund.  I am not in the home mortgage industry but I can only assume getting a home loan in a Superfund site is problematic.  This whole thing is a slow-motion train wreck and a lot of people are going to get exactly what they deserve - temporary jobs for a few hundred people and a lifetime of payment for everyone else.

----------


## Urbanized

I'm not confusing anything, Kerry. Your posting history here speaks for itself. I appreciate and share many of your values, but the tone in which you share them is never going to win people over. Nobody wants to constantly be told that the place they live is a hopeless piece of ****.

----------


## PhiAlpha

The only thing that may save Sandridge if they have to stop using disposal wells across the board and they cant find an economical alternative to injection as a means of disposal, is the acreage they bought in Colorado. They bought a large position and there is room to expand it if it works out. The prior operator had a lot of success with it and Sandridge has a very qualified team to develop it so there is opportunity there. We'll see how it goes.

----------


## PhiAlpha

Kerry, you are becoming more and more of a condescending pos with every post....congratulations. On a side note, Great Plains International Airport would be right at the epicenter of many of these quakes so I guess that won't be a possibility.

----------


## Rover

> Just waiting for this to happen - because we all know this is the ultimate outcome.  Oklahoma will become the largest superfund site on the face of the earth.  Good luck selling your homes then.


So this is your wet dream?  Your hatred of Oklahoma is more and more evident every post.

----------


## LandThieves

Hold the phone... "Oklahoma will become the largest Superfund site on the face of the earth." Did you seriously say/mean that? I'm sorry, it's just simply comical at times, reading your comments. Like, you're actually trying to say the state of Oklahoma, as a whole, will be a Superfund site??? Also, for the love, I hope you have at least an inkling of knowledge on Superfund site qualifications and funding, but by that comment alone, I'd say you haven't got the slightest. But if you're curious, please feel free to walk downtown to the DEQ and they'll get you squared away. I actually know someone personally, that would be more than happy to lend a hand in educating you. Seriously good for a laugh at times.

----------


## Rover

> You are confusing prediction with desired outcome.  If State government gets saddled with this liability they are most likely going to need the feds to help - and that help will come in the form of a Superfund.  I am not in the home mortgage industry but I can only assume getting a home loan in a Superfund site is problematic.  This whole thing is a slow-motion train wreck and a lot of people are going to get exactly what they deserve - temporary jobs for a few hundred people and a lifetime of payment for everyone else.


With you, glee over bad things happening in Oklahoma to Oklahomans is always your tone.  It is obvious you think we are all ignorant and stupid compared to you.  But, to paraphrase Will Rogers, when you left OK it raised the IQ of both states.

----------


## Urbanized

Sorry, I didn't mean for this to go down this rabbit hole and have it get personal. I just said "good grief". I get discouraged at times when defending this site to smart, connected OKC people who've come here, read a few over-the-top posts like those, and then rejected it as being overwhelmingly negative. It's bad for the site, and bad for discourse in OKC.

For the record, I've met Kerry in person and he is a nice and (I believe) well-intentioned guy. I just take issue with how he makes his points at times.

----------


## Just the facts

Well this thread is clearly getting derailed on a side-topic so I'll leave it at that.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Well this thread is clearly getting derailed on a side-topic so I'll leave it at that.


A derailment that your ridiculous post clearly caused.

----------


## Bits_Of_Real_Panther

Gotta wonder if Ward circles back around to pluck some pieces of this co.

----------


## Tundra

> Gotta wonder if Ward circles back around to pluck some pieces of this co.


Tom & Aubrey both have been very reckless in the ventures, they had their moments of brilliance, nut now they've wrecked to businesses that will ultimately cost thousands their jobs and possibly the tax payers a lot of money.

----------


## gopokes88

Using trumps voice for JTF posts is a lot of fun.

----------


## Rover

> Tom & Aubrey both have been very reckless in the ventures, they had their moments of brilliance, nut now they've wrecked to businesses that will ultimately cost thousands their jobs and possibly the tax payers a lot of money.


In all fairness, tens of thousands of jobs are being lost at hundreds of O&G companies these days...including we'll run ones who are responding to 60-70% drop in income.

----------


## Tundra

> In all fairness, tens of thousands of jobs are being lost at hundreds of O&G companies these days...including we'll run ones who are responding to 60-70% drop in income.


When you pay your employees exorbitant amounts of money, to do everyday work that in a normal setting you'd be lucky to get half of,,, struggling companies really don't have a choice but to cut pay or the job as a whole. I'm talking more about the office jobs, not the rough necks , they deserve every dime they make... I'm all for making the most you can , but making six figures these days is far too common and it should come to no surprise when they start making cuts, where they're going to cut first. These oil and gas companies spend money like the Government, hiring a website designer for The ACA.....

----------


## Easy180

> When you pay your employees exorbitant amounts of money, to do everyday work that in a normal setting you'd be lucky to get half of,,, struggling companies really don't have a choice but to cut pay or the job as a whole. I'm talking more about the office jobs, not the rough necks , they deserve every dime they make... I'm all for making the most you can , but making six figures these days is far too common and it should come to no surprise when they start making cuts, where they're going to cut first. These oil and gas companies spend money like the Government, hiring a website designer for The ACA.....


Yeah you gotta hope they socked some money away (who am I kidding we are Americans) as many will be moving from 90-100k down to 30-40k.

----------


## soonerguru

> Maybe because there are humans involved that will be affected.


Haven't they already fired most of the humans? I'm affected by their worthless stock I stupidly invested in.

----------


## OU Adonis

And $SD just got delisted.  There goes my 10k shares.

----------


## CaptDave

NYSE to delist SandRidge, trading halted | The Journal Record

----------


## Teo9969

> And $SD just got delisted.  There goes my 10k shares.


??? I don't think you just lose your shares because it was delisted. They'll just be sold OTC now.

----------


## Urbanized

Welp.

----------


## gopokes88

> And $SD just got delisted.  There goes my 10k shares.


The prolonged depression of commodity prices have caused nearly all companies in our industry to suffer material degradation in value,” Kimmel wrote. “While the delisting of our stock from the NYSE is certainly not an outcome we desired, it’s important to note that this action does not affect our day-to-day operations. SandRidge continues to have ample liquidity and we remain focused on navigating the current commodity downturn and extending our capabilities, including developing our recently acquired Niobrara assets. We expect SandRidge shares to begin trading over the counter tomorrow.”

Read more: NYSE to delist SandRidge, trading halted | The Journal Record

----------


## Teo9969

I don't think the delisting changes anything really. 

Their only hope is that commodity prices rise. If they do, they'll be fine. The question is how long can they make it? 18 months, 12 months, 6 months? Methinks they're going to need to be able to hold on in the current pricing environment for another 6 months at least.

----------


## OU Adonis

You are right it doesn't go away, but the stock crashes hard once it goes to the pink sheets.

Today on the first day of trading it dropped to .05 cents a share.  Its "rebounded" to .09.

----------


## Urbanized

If you bought at five cents you could have almost doubled your money!

----------


## Swake

> If you bought at five cents you could have almost doubled your money!


Penny stocks are a great way to lose money quickly.

----------


## catch22

> Penny stocks are a great way to lose money quickly.


I think he was being sarcastic. 

I bought a few hundred dollars of SD several weeks ago. It was a gamble. My thought was if oil had a small rally, it would go up a little bit and I could cash out with a little more than I put in. Worst case scenario they would delist and I lose a small amount of money. 

I lost on that but I'm not too upset. You shouldn't take risks if you can't afford to lose your investment.

I'd be upset if I bought a significant amount, which I wouldn't do on such a high risk stock.

----------


## gopokes88

I heard they hedged a lot of their '16 production around $55/barrel this summer, and have based their '16 budget on $55 oil. Biggest threat to SD right now is the Ok Corp Commission shutting their wells down because of EQs. They have nothing else, to fall back on.

----------


## OU Adonis

Its down to .029 on 80m volume

You would think they could do a buyback and go private.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I heard they hedged a lot of their '16 production around $55/barrel this summer, and have based their '16 budget on $55 oil. Biggest threat to SD right now is the Ok Corp Commission shutting their wells down because of EQs. They have nothing else, to fall back on.


While the OK stuff is their largest proven asset, they do have 80,000+ acres worth of new potential drilling sites in Colorado that they are just purchased, a new project in the San Juan Basin, and a few legacy assets in the Permian. If either of the new projects pan out, it will go a long way for them. In the worst case, those additional projects will provide them some diversity to help restructure if they have the file chapter 11.

----------


## Plutonic Panda

With your knowledge about the oil industry, what do you think about Sandridge? Do you think they will make despite these latest announcements?

----------


## soonerguru

So do I still own shares in this ghost company or not?

----------


## catch22

> So do I still own shares in this ghost company or not?


Yes you do.

The only thing that has changed regarding your share ownership is where you exchange shares. 

Now if those shares are worth anything? Doesn't appear so.

----------


## Paseofreak

Where can one monitor the post delisting trading price.  I Googled and all I find is the $0.15 bottom on the NYSE.

----------


## OSUPeterson

https://www.google.com/finance?cid=704234

----------


## OkiePoke

I'm thinking about buying $100 worth of this stock... Not looking at getting my money back, but the upsides could be huge.

----------


## Just the facts

> I'm thinking about buying $100 worth of this stock... Not looking at getting my money back, but the upsides could be huge.


Buy $94 worth of powerball tickets and a bluray movie on sale at Best Buy.  In a month you will still own the movie and the upside on the Power Ball tickets are even more huge - and just as likely.

----------


## Pete

Next steps for SandRidge: Company moves to pink sheets; analyst wonders about takeover
By: Sarah Terry-Cobo The Journal Record January 7, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – SandRidge Energy Inc.’s stock plummeted Thursday after its removal from the New York Stock Exchange. The driller began trading on OTC Pink Marketplace under the symbol SDOC, closing at 2.75 cents per share, down from 12.7 cents per share.

Removal from the NYSE isn’t a good sign for the company’s financial health, said University of Central Oklahoma Energy Economics Chairman Jeremy Oller. But UCO finance professor Randal Ice said it doesn’t signal the end, either.

SandRidge confirmed Wednesday it was removed from the NYSE. Company executives declined to appeal the decision, according to a regulatory document filed Thursday.

Ice said there isn’t anything inherently wrong with a stock trading on the pink sheets. But it will erode the company’s liquidity, he said. Ice said he wasn’t familiar with the company’s financial statements and declined to comment on SandRidge’s financial strength.

Oller said institutional investors will be inclined to sell stocks that aren’t on an exchange.

“A lot of mutual funds won’t buy off the pink sheets, so your demand and buyer pool drops,” he said.

SandRidge could become an acquisition target, he said. However, potential buyers would likely avoid a buyout, because of the company’s large debt. A more likely scenario is an asset sell-off, he said.

However, the company’s assets may be devalued because of regulatory uncertainty, he said. A large portion of SandRidge’s oil and gas properties are located in northern Oklahoma, which is laden with earthquake swarms. 

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission is examining at least 106 of the company’s disposal wells that are located near temblors.

“Any time you have uncertainty it diminishes value,” Oller said. “That play could hurt the value of the investment for a potential buyer.”

University of Tulsa energy business professor Tom Seng said the prolonged commodity price rout will further degrade SandRidge’s assets. Any potential buyer will value a minerals lease at commodity strip prices, which reached a nine-year-low Thursday. West Texas Intermediate closed at $33.24 per barrel.

“People will come in and pay pennies on the dollar for these assets,” Seng said. “Companies are forced to sell at a huge discount to what they would get six months ago.”

Oppenheimer Senior Oil and Gas Analyst Fadel Gheit doesn’t analyze SandRidge as part of his portfolio for the investment firm. But he said he met with executives in the summer of 2014 and watches the company’s performance. There will always be a buyer for degraded assets, he said.

He said he wasn’t at all surprised about the company’s removal from the NYSE. The industry overall is facing a difficult market with depressed commodity prices.

“The problem with the oil companies, they can rearrange the chairs on the Titanic, but you are not going to change the price of oil,” Gheit said. “You can do whatever you want and it’s not going to help if you have low oil and gas prices.”

He said he was surprised that another local oil and gas company hasn’t acquired SandRidge. Gheit covers Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Devon Energy Corp. and used to follow Kerr McGee. Oklahoma City is better off with one solid oil and gas company than several smaller, weaker ones, he said.

“This is not the time to be nice,” Gheit said. “This is the time to save the ship, to salvage as much as we can.”
SandRidge representatives did not return a request for comment by publication time Thursday.

----------


## Teo9969

> Buy $94 worth of powerball tickets and a bluray movie on sale at Best Buy.  In a month you will still own the movie and the upside on the Power Ball tickets are even more huge - and just as likely.


If gopokes is right and the hedged most of their 2016 production @$55/barrel, then Sandridge is likely fine for at least 12 months, if not a full 18.

Obviously Oil and NG price have to rise for them to have a shot, but they seem to believe they can cash-flow at $55/barrel.

----------


## adaniel

A lot of these companies, SD included, probably have more of a life than people think. There was a big fear last fall when banks do their annual credit review that the lifeline of credit was going to get turned off...that really didn't happen. For all of the carnage in this industry right now, there's been relatively few BKs and defaults. And if I am not mistaken SD actually secured more credit. You can certainly debate if that's a good thing, but it should keep them going for the near term. They are still screwed if oil prices don't go up in the next 12 months or so.  

IMO the main key to their long term survival is probably bailing out of Northern OK Mississippian wells, even if it means taking a bath and selling it for cheap. Its only a matter of time before activity in that area is dramatically curtailed.

----------


## OkiePoke

> Buy $94 worth of powerball tickets and a bluray movie on sale at Best Buy.  In a month you will still own the movie and the upside on the Power Ball tickets are even more huge - and just as likely.


Almost quadrupled my money in 2 days... sold this morning.

----------


## Spartan

> The "good grief" was directed at your almost gleeful prediction of Oklahoma being a massive superfund site and everyone's homes becoming worthless. Sometimes I'm convinced that you WISH for bad things to happen in our state and town just so that you can log on to OKCTalk and remind us of how much the people living here have lost our way, of how much smarter you are than the rest of us dumb Okies.
> 
> You of course are not the only poster who does this, and it has become really, REALLY tiring. I know quite a few informed and well-connected people whose participation would add much here, but who won't join the conversation it because the overall small percentage of bombastic and negative posts like that one colors their opinion of the entire site.
> 
> It's a blight on the forum, and disrespectful to Pete and to other posters who work to make this an informed, civil place to share thoughts, information and ideas.
> 
> /end rant


It sucks to be reminded of negative things, but do you honestly think this has gone well?

Nothing really surprising is happening with the unraveling of SandRidge. This will be one of those stories in the OKC history books.

----------


## HangryHippo

If SandRidge does go under, who is a likely buyer of their campus?

----------


## Tundra

The stock closed at .07 cents today... How do you survive that?

----------


## gopokes88

> It sucks to be reminded of negative things, but do you honestly think this has gone well?
> 
> Nothing really surprising is happening with the unraveling of SandRidge. This will be one of those stories in the OKC history books.


I think it's frustrating because SD unraveling isn't going to lead okc becoming a superfund site. Yet JTF presents that as reasonable and likely scenario. It's just laughably stupid.

----------


## gopokes88

> The stock closed at .07 cents today... How do you survive that?


The price of a stock has little impact on the day to day. It's just a signal no one wants to own SD.

----------


## BillyOcean

> IMO the main key to their long term survival is probably bailing out of Northern OK Mississippian wells, even if it means taking a bath and selling it for cheap. Its only a matter of time before activity in that area is dramatically curtailed.


That is the rub here.  No one wanted to purchase this asset before the earthquake/occ issues became public.  Who in their right mind would buy it now, for any price, knowing the inherent risk?  No one.

This company is toast.  Been saying it for a year and I never expected prices to get this low.  SD is just trying to hold on as long as possible to see if a miracle arises (why not, they have nothing to lose as it is someone else's money they are playing with), but it isn't happening.

The new acquisition is of little help at this point.  It came with very little production to help the bottom line immediately and there will be a very expensive learning curve to add to the production base.  By the way, this new area is not anywhere near economic at $40 oil, let alone $30 oil.

----------


## Spartan

> If SandRidge does go under, who is a likely buyer of their campus?


No one right now. Except either the city or the BID will become saddled with maintenance of the park we needed so badly we tore down two worthwhile historic buildings, including the oldest standing in our city at that time. We saw fool's gold bc SandRidge promised to maintain the park for us, like a gift from Tom Ward to his favorite city. How nice of him!

----------


## Stickman

:Smiley127:

----------


## OkiePoke

SandRidge cuts 226 jobs at oilfield services company | NewsOK.com

SandRidge Energy Inc. on Wednesday cut 226 jobs at its Lariat Services Group subsidiary in northwest Oklahoma.

The announcement represents about 87 percent of the oilfield service company's 260 employees, who are based out of Cherokee and Alva. SandRidge employees were not included in the layoffs.

"The decision to close a significant portion of Lariat Services was a difficult, but necessary one, driven by the unprecedented environment currently facing our entire industry," SandRidge said in a statement. "While the performance of the Lariat employees in the face of extremely difficult circumstances has been exceptional, significantly lower drilling budgets and associated well counts across the sector have created an unsustainable market for Lariat's operations.”

(Story continued below...)
SandRidge and most other oil companies have slashed drilling operations over the past year as oil prices have collapsed to about $31 a barrel, less than one-third of the price 18 months ago.

SandRidge and other operators in northwest Oklahoma's saltwater-rich Mississippi Lime play have faced increasing scrutiny from state regulators as saltwater disposal wells in the area have been connected with the state's ongoing earthquake swarm. SandRidge is negotiating with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission after last month defying a voluntary directive to shut down or reduce operations at disposal wells in the area

----------


## Just the facts

> I think it's frustrating because SD unraveling isn't going to lead okc becoming a superfund site. Yet JTF presents that as reasonable and likely scenario. It's just laughably stupid.


Did I say that or do you think I said that?

----------


## Just the facts

> Almost quadrupled my money in 2 days... sold this morning.


Then you timed it as perfect as one could possibly do it.

----------


## Spartan

Hate to see people losing their jobs, especially in a part of the state without many other opportunities. This is unraveling badly and I really just hate to see this...

I hope the city and chamber are standing by to try and get these people engaged in a different sector. If people are land men, they can be land surveyors or geographers; if they're petro engineers, maybe they can be chemists. This is how you do macro-scale workforce development.

It's a diversification opportunity if we respond well. It's an economic catastrophe if we don't. But we need to face the facts, oil is in free fall.

----------


## gopokes88

> Just waiting for this to happen - because we all know this is the ultimate outcome.  Oklahoma will become the largest superfund site on the face of the earth.  Good luck selling your homes then.


You said it.

----------


## Just the facts

> You said it.


But that isn't what you said I said.  What is kind of funny is that in the elevator a few days ago an Edmond resident expressed frustration that cracks in his house, that he said were the result of earthquakes, was preventing him from selling his house.  He went on to say that his realtor told him he needed to fix them but by the time he paid for that (estimated at about $20,000), it would make a big dent in his 'profit'.  At which point he said he would be better off staying in a house that needs $20,000 in repairs.  Needless to say he was not happy when discussing it with his friend.

Now I understand this was just one person but still could become a reality for more and more homeowners in the north part of the metro.

----------


## PhiAlpha

I have heard from a pretty good source that layoffs are coming at Sandridge in the next week or two. Not that surprising but as always, disappointing.

----------


## Stickman

I think they came to an agreement on the seven disposal wells.   Lawsuits are becoming unaffordable.

----------


## sooner88

SandRidge borrows $489 million | News OK

----------


## Easy180

> SandRidge borrows $489 million | News OK


I bet whatever bank(s) received that max out request winced a little when they spotted it.

----------


## OU Adonis

> I bet whatever bank(s) received that max out request winced a little when they spotted it.


They are also looking to restructure debt, which means potential BK.

----------


## gopokes88

I'm kinda starting to wonder if banks are starting to think, well let's just keep borrowing and refinancing until oil recovers, rather not have to take over the company. If SD can stay afloat in this market anyone can.

----------


## jn1780

It worked well for the banks to take on toxic debt last time. The government and the Federal Reserve have their back.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I'm kinda starting to wonder if banks are starting to think, well let's just keep borrowing and refinancing until oil recovers, rather not have to take over the company. If SD can stay afloat in this market anyone can.


Yes, that is exactly what they are thinking to a point. They are also encouraging noncore asset sales.

----------


## gopokes88

> Yes, that is exactly what they are thinking to a point. They are also encouraging noncore asset sales.


I mean if you're going to force someone into bankruptcy do it when oil is $100, not $30. Selling non core is a good idea as well.

----------


## Tundra

SandRidge On The Verge Bankruptcy: Would Be 2nd Largest Shale Chapter 11 In Past Year | Zero Hedge

----------


## Stickman

Does this mean nobody wants to buy them?   Lets see now...............    company worth a 100 million but has 2 billion in debt.
Kind of sounds toxic.  I think CHK is right behind them, other than Icahn and the street keeping it going.

  Thanks Tom and Aubrey.



Sorry, just sounding off about past losses.

----------


## Bits_Of_Real_Panther

A.V. Jones of Quantum Energy Partners eyes stressed Sandridge Energy Inc. - Houston Business Journal

A Houston private equity big shot is considering options to salvage the beleaguered Oklahoma-based SandRidge Energy...

----------


## PhiAlpha

> A.V. Jones of Quantum Energy Partners eyes stressed Sandridge Energy Inc. - Houston Business Journal
> 
> A Houston private equity big shot is considering options to salvage the beleaguered Oklahoma-based SandRidge Energy...


A PE backer or purchase out of bankruptcy by someone like BP would be the best case scenario for Sandridge.

----------


## Canoe

Anyone else hear the rumors about layoff this Wednesday?

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Anyone else hear the rumors about layoff this Wednesday?


I haven't heard a specific date, but have head that it will be this week or next.

----------


## Scotty22

Yes layoffs are happening tomorrow unfortunately. 

The layoffs will be 30-50%.  Pretty scary around here. Say some prayers for families affected.

----------


## Pete

> Yes layoffs are happening tomorrow unfortunately. 
> 
> The layoffs will be 30-50%.  Pretty scary around here. Say some prayers for families affected.


Hang in there, Scotty.

Hopefully your job survives.

----------


## Pete

I've been told that a decent number of managers were let go yesterday and today there will be more wide-spread cuts.

I suspect after this round that all of SD could fit into about 1/3rd of the tower.

After that, it might make sense for OG&E to buy the complex, consolidate their employees there, and continue to lease to Sandridge.

It would also provide SD much needed working capital as they continue to fight for survival.

----------


## Pete

Hearing layoffs have started today...

----------


## TreyDoggg

hearing the same things. Sounds like the beginning of the end for Sandridge.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> hearing the same things. Sounds like the beginning of the end for Sandridge.


If layoffs signaled the beginning of the end for a company, every energy company in OKC other than Continental would be going out of business soon. I think the most likely scenario is that they file Chapter 11 and are refinanced by a PE backer or purchased by a company like BP.

----------


## FritterGirl

> Hearing layoffs have started today...


Two friends I know have been lain off. Will see what the final tally is. Sad day all around.

----------


## sooner88

NewOK reporting that they laid off 440 jobs, leaving 717 employees companywide and 376 in OKC after layoffs.

----------


## Pete

I wonder how many of those 440 were in OKC?

----------


## sooner88

> I wonder how many of those 440 were in OKC?


Looks like 172. (548 in OKC at end of 2015, 376 now).

----------


## Pete

> Looks like 172. (548 in OKC at end of 2015, 376 now).


If that's correct, the reduction in the OKC workforce would be about 32%.

Still, 172 jobs is not going to have a big impact on the local economy.

Best wishes to those who lost their jobs today.  I've been through something similar a few times myself and it sucks, particularly in the short term.

----------


## 7NCSOONER

Things may be accelerating at SandRidge...

Biggest Wave Yet of U.S. Oil Defaults Looms as Bust Intensifies - Bloomberg Business

----------


## Jersey Boss

SandRidge Energy considering bankruptcy | News OK

_SandRidge Energy is considering reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Oklahoma City energy firm disclosed Wednesday in a regulatory filing.

The company has engaged advisors to assist with a private restructuring or reorganization under Title 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the foreseeable future, which raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern," SandRidge said in the annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SandRidge, which lost $4.3 billion in 2015, said "declining industry conditions" and substantial long-term debt prompted the firm to hire advisors to help it evaluate methods to restructure, amend or refinance its debt._

----------


## OkiePoke

I wonder if OG&E will purchase the tower from Sandridge.

----------


## OU Adonis

Sandridge files Prepackaged Chapter 11.


http://investors.sandridgeenergy.com...s/default.aspx

----------


## Midtowner

Talk about history repeating itself. Boom times see us demolishing historic structures in hopes of greater things. Failure to prepare for the inevitable bust times leaves behind a soon to be overgrown and unsightly corporate plaza.

----------


## gopokes88

> Talk about history repeating itself. Boom times see us demolishing historic structures in hopes of greater things. Failure to prepare for the inevitable bust times leaves behind a soon to be overgrown and unsightly corporate plaza.


This is chapter 11 not 7. 

3.7 billion of SDs 4.1 billion in debt will convert into equity in the new stock. They'll emerge from bankruptcy with a very strong balance sheet. Current stockholders are going to get wiped out, but SD will survive and emerge stronger. This is very good news.

----------


## stile99

> Current stockholders are going to get wiped out, but SD will survive and emerge stronger. This is very good news.


Unless, of course, one is a current sucker^H^H^H^H^H^Hstockholder.

----------


## gopokes88

> Unless, of course, one is a current sucker^H^H^H^H^H^Hstockholder.


Sucks for me in that regard but SD staying afloat is better for the city as a whole. This is why you don't put all your eggs into on basket.

----------


## Pete

> This is why you don't put all your eggs into on basket.


You've clearly fallen for all the basket industry hype.   :Wink:

----------


## gopokes88

> You've clearly fallen for all the basket industry hype.


Dang autocorrect

----------


## Jeepnokc

Thank you for heads up this morning.  I immediately put a sell order in for the entire 47000 shares I owned and was able to sell without a loss.  If I hadn't seen it...would have been a loss as bought at .03 and sold at .03.  Last I saw...it was .02.  Wish I had sold at .06 on Friday though.  Always a day late.....





> Sandridge files Prepackaged Chapter 11.
> 
> 
> http://investors.sandridgeenergy.com...s/default.aspx

----------


## Teo9969

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanric...x#11bbb6f18bac

Interesting read...Not sure Sandridge still has 1000 employees, but the point about filing Chapter 11 as a backroom deal that gains the creditors a massive advantage is...well, something else.

----------


## mimino

> http://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanric...x#11bbb6f18bac
> 
> Interesting read...Not sure Sandridge still has 1000 employees, but the point about filing Chapter 11 as a backroom deal that gains the creditors a massive advantage is...well, something else.


Nothing new there. Commons always get the shaft in these operations. Forget all the mottos praising employees and empty talks of (corporate) ethical responsibility. Survival of the fittest rules the day. Let's see how this plays out, and if current employees end up getting anything in the new Co. post BK.

----------


## OKCRT

> Nothing new there. Commons always get the shaft in these operations. Forget all the mottos praising employees and empty talks of (corporate) ethical responsibility. Survival of the fittest rules the day. Let's see how this plays out, and if current employees end up getting anything in the new Co. post BK.


The rich get richer while the middle class get smaller and lower class gets larger. Hey,It's the American way.

----------


## ljbab728

An update by the Journal.




> Senior solution: SandRidge offers plan that could help it exit bankruptcy
> By: Sarah Terry-Cobo
> The Journal Record
> 
> OKLAHOMA CITY – SandRidge Energy Inc. is one step closer to expediting its bankruptcy proceedings.
> The driller asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve changes to its senior notes, in a regulatory document filed Monday.
> 
> The company will offer up to $300 million in new, convertible senior notes due in 2020 in exchange for debtors who hold SandRidge’s 8.75-percent senior second-lien notes due in 2020.
> 
> ...

----------


## PhiAlpha

Some good news: 

http://m.newsok.com/article/5513905

----------


## PhiAlpha

Some better news: 

http://newsok.com/sandridge-energy-e...rticle/5520992

----------


## OKCRT

> Some better news: 
> 
> http://newsok.com/sandridge-energy-e...rticle/5520992


Better news - Unless you were a former shareholder who got wiped out.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Better news - Unless you were a former shareholder who got wiped out.


That would've happened whether they emerged from bankruptcy or not. This is good news regardless. The alternative was SD liquidating all their assets, almost everyone at the company losing their jobs, OKC losing a good corporate sponsor and HQ, and the shareholders still would've been wiped out. Bankruptcy sucks but I'm not sure what alternative you're looking for.

----------


## OKCRT

> That would've happened whether they emerged from bankruptcy or not. This is good news regardless. The alternative was SD liquidating all their assets, almost everyone at the company losing their jobs, OKC losing a good corporate sponsor and HQ, and the shareholders still would've been wiped out. Bankruptcy sucks but I'm not sure what alternative you're looking for.



I didn't hold any of the bad paper so it doesn't effect me. For me,you and many others this is good news. For some folks that had their stock turn into newspaper I don't imagine they view this as good news. I feel sorry for them and wish there was some they could recoup some of their losses in SD.

----------


## gopokes88

> I didn't hold any of the bad paper so it doesn't effect me. For me,you and many others this is good news. For some folks that had their stock turn into newspaper I don't imagine they view this as good news. I feel sorry for them and wish there was some they could recoup some of their losses in SD.


They were getting wiped out either way. This is why they say stocks are risky. Stockholders are the lowest on the totem pole

----------


## PhiAlpha

> I didn't hold any of the bad paper so it doesn't effect me. For me,you and many others this is good news. For some folks that had their stock turn into newspaper I don't imagine they view this as good news. I feel sorry for them and wish there was some they could recoup some of their losses in SD.


Yeah but again, what difference does this make to former common stockholders? They would've been wiped out regardless of whether SD filed Chapter 7 or 11...it doesn't matter. Feel sorry for them all you want but unless they just wished ill will on SD for going bankrupt, I don't really know what resolution they were looking for... Your comments don't make any sense.

----------


## vaflyer

According to the article, SandRidge is not going to be selling their tower. If that is the case, what will OGE do for new office space? Will they go back to building on the Stage Center site once the economy improves?

----------


## gopokes88

> According to the article, SandRidge is not going to be selling their tower. If that is the case, what will OGE do for new office space? Will they go back to building on the Stage Center site once the economy improves?


Maybe. That really isn't up to OGE. Clayco/rainy were building those for OGE and the extra floors would get leased up, problem is no one else wanted to lease the other floors so the whole thing fell through. OGE can't really go out and build them on their own, big perception problem asking for rate increases while also building a shiny new tower. The reason it worked with clayco is it would have been expense neutral jumping buildings.

----------


## sooner88

> Maybe. That really isn't up to OGE. Clayco/rainy were building those for OGE and the extra floors would get leased up, problem is no one else wanted to lease the other floors so the whole thing fell through. OGE can't really go out and build them on their own, big perception problem asking for rate increases while also building a shiny new tower. The reason it worked with clayco is it would have been expense neutral jumping buildings.


The deal fell through for a number of reasons, but a major reason was Clayco was asking for an unprecedented amount of TIF financing on a prime piece of real estate in the middle of downtown.

----------


## gopokes88

https://www.wsj.com/articles/sandrid...rgy-1510719073


DEALS
SandRidge Energy Nears Deal to Buy Bonanza Creek Energy
Cash-and-stock deal of about $750 million between the oil and gas producers could be announced Wednesday
Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. signage is displayed on a monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in May.
Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. signage is displayed on a monitor on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in May. PHOTO: MICHAEL NAGLE/BLOOMBERG NEWS
By Dana Mattioli and Ryan Dezember
Nov. 14, 2017 11:11 p.m. ET
0 COMMENTS
SandRidge Energy Inc. SD -4.95% is nearing an agreement to buy Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. BCEI -2.42% for about $750 million, according to people familiar with the matter.

A cash-and-stock deal between the oil and gas producers could be announced Wednesday, the people said.

Bonanza Creek and SandRidge were among the largest of more than 120 North American oil and gas producers bankrupted in recent years by plunging oil prices.


Their expected agreement comes amid a gradual rebound in oil prices and could be a sign that more energy companies with adjacent operations will seek mergers yielding economies of scale.

SandRidge, which drills in Oklahoma and Colorado, filed for bankruptcy in May 2016 with $8.3 billion of debt.

Bonanza Creek, which drills in Colorado and Arkansas, held on until early this year, partly because it raised $209 million selling new shares in early 2015. When it filed for bankruptcy in January with $1.1 billion of debt, the buyers of that stock along with other shareholders were all but wiped out.

SandRidge emerged from bankruptcy in October 2016, while Bonanza Creek emerged in April. Both companies have been plagued by thin trading that has kept their shares rangebound.

SandRidge’s market value now stands at about $690 million, while Bonanza Creek’s was about $640 million as of market close Tuesday.

SandRidge was started in 2006 by Tom Ward, who had earlier founded Chesapeake Energy Co. and turned it into a shale juggernaut with famed wildcatter Aubrey McClendon. Though he was the less well-known of the duo, Mr. Ward got off to a hot start with his follow-up. Within two years, it had a stock market value of more than $11 billion.


SandRidge’s stock, however, plummeted in the financial crisis and never really recovered. While other energy stocks rode the postcrisis commodities rally higher, SandRidge shares floundered as the company shifted strategies. When natural-gas prices fell, the company piled on debt to buy oil fields.

A big purchase of Gulf of Mexico oil fields in 2012 prompted a selloff in SandRidge stock and attracted activist investors, who called for Mr. Ward’s ouster. He was pushed out following a bruising public fight, but landed a severance package worth roughly $90 million.

The Gulf of Mexico properties were sold back to one of the investment firms from which the company had bought them, for a little more than half the original price.

The company then made a push in the Mississippi Lime formation near the Oklahoma-Kansas border, but its operations came with controversy. Wells in the area produce unusually high volumes of wastewater, which drillers often shoot back underground in separate wells. Studies have linked these so-called disposal wells to a rising number of earthquakes in the region. In a deal with state regulators, SandRidge agreed to stop using some of its waste-injection sites near temblors and reduce the volume of water pumped into others.

SandRidge’s new management pushed the company to diversify with the acquisition of Colorado drilling fields in November 2015, but the company couldn’t survive the oil bust that began year before.




Woah.

----------


## gopokes88

Nm double post

----------


## BridgeBurner

I wonder if they have any plans to move Bonanza Energy employees to OKC?

----------


## Pete

Also, what happened to Tom Ward's new company that was mentioned when he left Tapstone?

Haven't heard anything in a year.

----------


## gopokes88

> I wonder if they have any plans to move Bonanza Energy employees to OKC?


Yes and no. My friend inside SD says they’ll close the office in Colorado, transfer some hire some okc local as well.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Also, what happened to Tom Ward's new company that was mentioned when he left Tapstone?
> 
> Haven't heard anything in a year.


I'm sure they're raising money and looking for acquisition targets. They still have a website so they haven't gone away.

----------


## Pete

> I'm sure they're raising money and looking for acquisition targets. They still have a website so they haven't gone away.


What is the name?

----------


## DowntownMan

> What is the name?


Mach resources

----------


## Jersey Boss

http://newsok.com/article/5578884?slideout=1

Activist investor Carl Icahn on Tuesday demanded SandRidge Energy Inc. reshape its board and change its policies.

The move comes less than two weeks after* SandRidge directors bowed to Icahn's earlier demand to drop its plans to buy Colorado-based Bonanza Creek Energy.*"We were obviously pleased that you made the wise choice to terminate the Bonanza merger agreement, but we still have grave concerns about many of the things this board of directors has permitted to happen at SandRidge," Icahn said in the letter filed with federal regulators Tuesday.

----------


## Pete

This is playing out very, very similar to what happened at CHK.

----------


## jompster

> This is playing out very, very similar to what happened at CHK.


Indeed.  He wants them to drop their poison pill plan.  I smell a hostile takeover.   :Big Grin:

----------


## OU Adonis

> Indeed.  He wants them to drop their poison pill plan.  I smell a hostile takeover.


SD can rot in my opinion.  They cost me $5k on their bankruptcy then try dropping $750m a year later on acquisitions.  Screw them.   I hope Ican takes it over and breaks up the company.

----------


## Pete

I wonder how many they currently employ.

My guess is only 200-300, which is well less than the number laid off by Chesapeake and maybe even Devon.

If they were to fail, it may turn out to have more of a psychological impact on OKC than an economic one.

----------


## OU Adonis

> I wonder how many they currently employ.
> 
> My guess is only 200-300, which is well less than the number laid off by Chesapeake and maybe even Devon.
> 
> If they were to fail, it may turn out to have more of a psychological impact on OKC than an economic one.


Pete - Yes it would be a psychological blow but those employees would be absorbed into new and growing Oil/Gas businesses.   New debt/low debt startups will be springing up with the upswing in oil prices and will do well.

CHK needs to turn it around.  That would be a bad blow.

----------


## jonny d

> Pete - Yes it would be a psychological blow but those employees would be absorbed into new and growing Oil/Gas businesses.   New debt/low debt startups will be springing up with the upswing in oil prices and will do well.
> 
> CHK needs to turn it around.  That would be a bad blow.


Chesapeake is turning it around. Their balance sheet is miles ahead of where it was a year ago, in my opinion.

----------


## gopokes88

> Chesapeake is turning it around. Their balance sheet is miles ahead of where it was a year ago, in my opinion.


Meh. Balance sheet is better but it’s still under an incredible amount of stress

----------


## gopokes88

Layoffs coming, as well as lots of news about SD's future.

----------


## catch22

> Layoffs coming, as well as lots of news about SD's future.


They always have followed CHK's lead!

----------


## jccouger

> Layoffs coming, as well as lots of news about SD's future.


That's ominous.

----------


## sooner88

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-m...-idUSKBN1FQ1LH

----------


## Pete

> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-m...-idUSKBN1FQ1LH


So, merging with a Tulsa-based company but SandRidge shareholders would own 60%.

Wonder what the means for a future HQ?

----------


## Bellaboo

The merger offer is on Midstates website.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> So, merging with a Tulsa-based company but SandRidge shareholders would own 60%.
> 
> Wonder what the means for a future HQ?


Logistically, it would make more sense for it to be here. They dont own their building in Tulsa and I think they only have a few floors leased in it. OKC would also be closer to most of the companys assets. Having said that, they did just move their HQ from Houston to Tulsa a few years ago so who knows.

----------


## BG918

> I wonder how many they currently employ.
> 
> My guess is only 200-300, which is well less than the number laid off by Chesapeake and maybe even Devon.
> 
> If they were to fail, it may turn out to have more of a psychological impact on OKC than an economic one.


From today’s Tulsa World article about the merger:



> Midstates has 107 employees currently, with about 60 in the Tulsa office. According to a filing from last March, SandRidge had 509 full-time employees, including 278 at its Oklahoma City headquarters.


http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/s...d6fab9ffe.html

----------


## Pete

^

Thanks!

So, 278 in downtown OKC and maybe another 60 from Tulsa.  That is still nowhere near filling that main tower let alone the Parkside Building.

----------


## chuck5815

I don't really see the point in crowing about being the "Premier Mississippi Lime" operator. 

That's not a world-class asset. Okay, it might be if you like to produce water and earthquakes.

----------


## BG918

> I don't really see the point in crowing about being the "Premier Mississippi Lime" operator. 
> 
> That's not a world-class asset. Okay, it might be if you like to produce water and earthquakes.


There are still some geologists that are bullish on the Miss. Lime but yeah so far it hasn't lived up to its initial billing, and the earthquake "problem" is a big issue.  

Both companies do have a position in the NW STACK, 75k acres combined.

----------


## gopokes88

SD’s board met today. Not sure of the results but I would guess the merger goes through

----------


## LocoAko

http://newsok.com/article/5582732?ut...areBar-Twitter

----------


## gopokes88

> http://newsok.com/article/5582732?ut...areBar-Twitter


Merger all but confirmed

----------


## Jersey Boss

But Bennett will not be part of it.

----------


## gopokes88

Laying off 80 as expected 

http://m.newsok.com/sandridge-energy...rticle/5584815

----------


## soonerguru

Not a shock. This company has been hemorrhaging debt.

----------


## gopokes88

> Not a shock. This company has been hemorrhaging debt.


....that doesn’t make a lick of sense

----------


## Pete

That leaves them with 189 downtown employees.

They could fit all of them on about 3-4 floors of that 30 story tower.

----------


## catch22

Drove by yesterday and was amazed at how lifeless the whole complex was. Too bad.

----------


## pw405

CHK should sell their campus and move to this tower instead.  I wonder if they could fit?  Fantasy, I know... not sure of any company that would want to purchase so much office space in that part of the city.

----------


## Bellaboo

> That leaves them with 189 downtown employees.
> 
> They could fit all of them on about 3-4 floors of that 30 story tower.


That's a little over 6 people per floor. That would be wonderful.

----------


## Pete

Back when they were blowing and going they renovated each and every floor in that tower and when I was given a tour a few years ago, I was very impressed.

It's absolutely Class A space with executive parking underneath and then they own that entire parking garage to the east, which is a short, climate-controlled walk via the Underground.

They also have a full gym with meeting rooms in that 2-story structure between the tower and garage.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> Back when they were blowing and going they renovated each and every floor in that tower and when I was given a tour a few years ago, I was very impressed.
> 
> It's absolutely Class A space with executive parking underneath and then they own that entire parking garage to the east, which is a short, climate-controlled walk via the Underground.
> 
> They also have a full gym with meeting rooms in that 2-story structure between the tower and garage.


If they were smart they would let the Midstates merger go through and move the combined company to OKC since Midstates doesn't actually own office space in Tulsa and operationally OKC makes more sense. If someone like OGE was still interested, they could lease or sell the tower to them and office out of the Parkside building.

----------


## Pete

^

Right, and certainly at some point they need to do something with all that property.

Hugely valuable asset which is now almost completely empty.

----------


## BG918

> If they were smart they would let the Midstates merger go through and move the combined company to OKC since Midstates doesn't actually own office space in Tulsa and operationally OKC makes more sense. If someone like OGE was still interested, they could lease or sell the tower to them and office out of the Parkside building.


The 60 employees currently working for Midstates in Tulsa wouldn't put much of a dent in that office space though.

----------


## PhiAlpha

> The 60 employees currently working for Midstates in Tulsa wouldn't put much of a dent in that office space though.


I would assume that they plan to grow. Regardless, SD has tried to sell their campus for awhile now and haven’t been able to so it would make a lot more sense to office out of space you own than space you’re leasing.

----------


## Pete

You have to think OG&E may still be trying to work a deal with Sandridge.

It just makes too much sense.

----------


## Anonymous.

Their parking garage @ 2nd and EKG used to be packed. Now it is a ghost garage. Maybe they would sell it. And someone can knock it down and build something nice. /pipedream

----------


## BG918

SandRidge rejects the Midstates merger but is entertaining other offers

http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/s...4801f227e.html

----------


## jn1780

Newsok reporting that Parkside building has been sold for 10.75 million.

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## bchris02

I'm surprised Sandridge didn't consolidate into the Parkside building and sell off their main tower.  Surely they don't need all of the space they currently have.

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## sooner88

> I'm surprised Sandridge didn't consolidate into the Parkside building and sell off their main tower.  Surely they don't need all of the space they currently have.


They could still relocate to the Parkside building as a tenant.

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## gopokes88

> They could still relocate to the Parkside building as a tenant.


Shhhhhh

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## Pete

Icahn takes control of Sandridge board:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-s...-idUSKBN1JF229

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## gopokes88

Interesting to see what will happen with Sandridge

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## Pete

Sandridge really has very little remaining impact on the OKC economy.

The last time they did layoffs they were down to 189 employees and I bet that number is even smaller now.


Whatever happens, almost certainly their tower and garage will go on the market, and that's a good thing as both are sitting pretty much empty in the heart of downtown as the Parkside Building has done for years.  At least with the latter we have a new buyer who will bring more workers downtown.

Change is usually good...  Prolonged uncertainty is almost always bad.

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## gopokes88

> Sandridge really has very little remaining impact on the OKC economy.
> 
> The last time they did layoffs they were down to 189 employees and I bet that number is even smaller now.
> 
> 
> Whatever happens, almost certainly their tower and garage will go on the market, and that's a good thing as both are sitting pretty much empty in the heart of downtown as the Parkside Building has done for years.  At least with the latter we have a new buyer who will bring more workers downtown.
> 
> Change is usually good...  Prolonged uncertainty is almost always bad.


I've heard two schools of thought. 
1st. Ichan buys them take them private and slowly sells off all the assets to various companies.
2nd. Ichan buys SD takes it private. Then starts buying up other post bankrupt energy companies, merging them into Sandridge, and IPO as a new entity. Sandridge would be well positioned for this because they have the facility already in place to support a larger company. His next target is likely Midstates.

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## Pete

Hope it's the latter!

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## shawnw

I heard they were only taking up a few floors now in their building

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## mugofbeer

Bye, bye Sandridge.  Icahn will do only what serves Icahn which will be to do what he can to improve it's sales value and sell it off.

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## HOT ROD

Is Icahn a modern day 'Edward Lewis'?

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## mugofbeer

wouldn't that put him on the #metoo list?

Icahn is about the last of the true corporate raiders.  These are ultra-wealthies who would buy a large quantity of a company's stock so they could force their way onto the company board of directors, place a loyal CEO and often sell the company either in pieces or as a whole to another company.  Sometimes, they have worked out the company, improved it's financials and eventually sold their stock at a good profit so they don't always kill the company.  He has been involved in CHK recently but I'm not sure he still is or not.  Many people don't remember T Boone Pickins was one back in the 70s and 80s.  Icahn is acting right out of his playbook with SD.

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## dcsooner

This game of shifting deck chairs among OKC O&G companies is discouraging. Empty or near empty buildings,  layoffs, takeovers all indicate instability and does not make me confident OKC should or will remain a significant employer. Companies moving from one building to another represents neutral absorbson. Call me a pessimist but these events do not reflect vibrancy. Add the GE Baker Hughes news

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## PhiAlpha

> This game of shifting deck chairs among OKC O&G companies is discouraging. Empty or near empty buildings,  layoffs, takeovers all indicate instability and does not make me confident OKC should or will remain a significant employer. Companies moving from one building to another represents neutral absorbson. Call me a pessimist but these events do not reflect vibrancy. Add the GE Baker Hughes news


No offense, but I don’t think you’re connected enough with the oil and gas industry here or up to date enough with employment in OKC to accurately make that assessment.

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## dcsooner

> No offense, but I don’t think you’re connected enough with the oil and gas industry here or up to date enough with employment in OKC to accurately make that assessment.


No offense taken, BUT, can you offer offsetting facts that counter my observatsions from afar of instability in Oil and Gas?

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## Pete

> No offense taken, BUT, can you offer offsetting facts that counter my observatsions from afar of instability in Oil and Gas?


PhiAlpha knows, as do others in the industry, that more O&G companies will soon be moving downtown.  There should be some hard news on that soon.

Also, remember that Enable Midstream is moving to BOK Park Plaza which will help accomodate their growing workforce.

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## gopokes88

Lol.

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## gopokes88

https://newsok.com/article/5607812/s...uy-the-company

SD rejects all offers, looks to buy assets. Midstates, bonanza creek, and Chaparral will all likely be on that list.

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## kevin lee

I'm assuming that's a good thing, right?

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## gopokes88

> I'm assuming that's a good thing, right?


Good thing for OKC especially since they'll start growing again, the stock is off 12% because SD basically said our shares are only worth $12-13.

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## Pete

Reports that SandRidge is cutting its headquarters jobs from 120 to 57.

57 people working in that 30-story tower.

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## PhiAlpha

> Reports that SandRidge is cutting its headquarters jobs from 120 to 57.
> 
> 57 people working in that 30-story tower.


Your own office? I’ll do you one better! How about your own floor?

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## dcsooner

People, let's all stop referring to OKC as a major O&G player. Those days are long gone

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## thunderbird

> People, let's all stop referring to OKC as a major O&G player. Those days are long gone


We are still much bigger than many other O&G cities. Sure, Denver-Houston-dallas are still bigger, we're really not that far behind. Low $ oil is everywhere, not just OKC.

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## gopokes88

Well that stinks.

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## 5alive

I just wonder what is to become of Houston ...much more O&G than OKC.

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## dankrutka

> People, let's all stop referring to OKC as a major O&G player. Those days are long gone


Yup, time to change the city's branding campaign from "Oklahoma City: major O&G player." Who even approved that?

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## dcsooner

> We are still much bigger than many other O&G cities. Sure, Denver-Houston-dallas are still bigger, we're really not that far behind. Low $ oil is everywhere, not just OKC.


We make more excuses for and refuse to acknowledge truth in this city more than any place I have ever lived or worked. O&G in OKC is unstable as a leading source of sustained high energy employment, has been for decades. The state has lost major O&G companies to Texas. Those are the facts

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## dankrutka

> We make more excuses for and refuse to acknowledge truth in this city more than any place I have ever lived or worked.


Again, I want to agree with dcsooner here and encourage everyone to start acknowledging OKC's lies by chanting in rhythm:

OKC 
is unstable 
as a leading 
source of sustained 
high energy employment.

Chant it loud whether you're in city hall, waiting in a Starbucks line, or sitting in a bathroom stall. Do you think that would be enough dcsooner or are there some other ways OKC citizens can raise consciousness about this public disinformation of the O&G industry? Is this how people in other cities acknowledge their overhyped industries?

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## chuck5815

> We make more excuses for and refuse to acknowledge truth in this city more than any place I have ever lived or worked. O&G in OKC is unstable as a leading source of sustained high energy employment, has been for decades. The state has lost major O&G companies to Texas. Those are the facts


you seem upset, buddy. 
sad that you hate OKC so much.

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## dcsooner

You asked so here goes.  I have never lived in a city or state so dependent on ONE industry.  Most places that I have lived when industries decline or major industries relocate. the City/region gets BUSY looking for and recruiting NEW businesses in varied Sectors.  OKC seems to have a ready excuse for the decline in the O&G presence in the City/State. Nothing wrong with O&G, it has been for the most part good for Oklahoma, but to not acknowledge that over the last 2 decades the industry has declined and does not offer the stability in Tax revenue or Salaries as it once did. Not too long ago Devon was talked about as as potential sale and we know how Chesapeake has fluctuated over the last few years. 

Other places compete for high paying jobs. The companies may be 200-400 employees but the salaries are far above the areas SOL.  OKC seems content to lose businesses, lose athletic events etc. Citizens ought to demand better of their elected officials at all levels. economic progress , education, health care , Q of L  issues that influence Companies in selecting locations. rather than divisive and frivolous legislation like carry guns, Donald Trump street or whatever.

*Couple examples in Raleigh-Durham area:* within last year and half., Also, Gov is a Democrat, go figure

1.  Microsoft plans 500 new jobs in Morrisville after landing incentives from the state

2. Xerox will create 600 new jobs in Cary as part of a $18.4 million investment, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Tuesday morning.

“Not just any new jobs,” Cooper said. “Jobs with an average salary of over $112,000.”

Xerox will receive more than $13.6 million in taxpayer-funded incentives over 12 years for the promise of the new jobs, which comes to about $23,000 per job.

3.  HZO Announces Headquarters Relocation to Raleigh, North Carolina
4. SKAN US Inc., a subsidiary of SKAN AG Switzerland, has moved its US Headquarters to Raleigh, North Carolina. 

OKC CoC touts all these accolades about OKC and thats great BUT they haven't for the most part translated to attracting NEW industries to the City

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## dcsooner

> you seem upset, buddy. 
> sad that you hate OKC so much.


You have no level of discernment when you can't see a persons love for a place in their comments

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## TheTravellers

> You have no level of discernment when you can't see a persons love for a place in their comments


Ignore him, he's a troll, he has made that same comment (or "shook" or "angry") hundreds of times on here.

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## Laramie

Double post

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## Laramie

> Reports that SandRidge is cutting its headquarters jobs from 120 to 57.
> 
> 57 people working in that 30-story tower.


City of Oklahoma City should offer an incentive remodel to move Paycom Headquarters to SandRidge Center.  



*Rename:  Paycom Center.*

*Employees: 3,050*

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## SEMIweather

Will never happen, Paycom's campus is a 30-45 minute rush hour drive from Downtown OKC, they would stand to lose or alienate a huge chunk of their workforce that lives in the Piedmont/Deer Creek/North Edmond area. Also given how much of the surrounding land Paycom owns, they are absolutely committed to staying in that location for the long haul.

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## Laramie

> Will never happen, Paycom's campus is a 30-45 minute rush hour drive from Downtown OKC, they would stand to lose or alienate a huge chunk of their workforce that lives in the Piedmont/Deer Creek/North Edmond area. Also given how much of the surrounding land Paycom owns, they are absolutely committed to staying in that location for the long haul.


Good!  

Glad to know that Paycom has a lot invested in Oklahoma City.   Just don't want to see a growing company get bought out like Sonic and relocated to a mega market like Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix or Seattle.

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## chuck5815

> Ignore him, he's a troll, he has made that same comment (or "shook" or "angry") hundreds of times on here.


Yawn . . .

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## dcsooner

> Ignore him, he's a troll, he has made that same comment (or "shook" or "angry") hundreds of times on here.


Ignore me, but don’t ignore the facts! You did not dispute any of my comments regarding O&G or state legislature or new business. This is the problem in Oklahoma, deny, deflect, disparage anyone who sees the issues in the state for what they are.

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## HangryHippo

> Ignore me, but don’t ignore the facts! You did not dispute any of my comments regarding O&G or state legislature or new business. This is the problem in Oklahoma, deny, deflect, disparage anyone who sees the issues in the state for what they are.


Read it again. He was telling you to ignore Chuck.

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## gopokes88

Paycom is never moving. 

I know this cause I asked Chad who responded, “I’m never going to move paycom downtown.”

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## gopokes88

You guys do understand there’s only 6 oil and gas hubs right? 

Houston 
Dallas
Tulsa 
Okc
Denver 
Midland

Okc ranks anywhere from 4-6 depending on how dcsooner you look at things.

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## dcsooner

> Read it again. He was telling you to ignore Chuck.


My apologies  :Bow:

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## dcsooner

> You guys do understand there’s only 6 oil and gas hubs right? 
> 
> Houston 
> Dallas
> Tulsa 
> Okc
> Denver 
> Midland
> 
> Okc ranks anywhere from 4-6 depending on how dcsooner you look at things.


Guys, Please do not misunderstand me.  O&G is good for Oklahoma, but, it has been declining and simply need to continue to diversify.

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## TheTravellers

> Ignore me, but don’t ignore the facts! You did not dispute any of my comments regarding O&G or state legislature or new business. This is the problem in Oklahoma, deny, deflect, disparage anyone who sees the issues in the state for what they are.


That's also his shtick, he has nothing constructive or informative  to add, so he just pulls that same thing all the time.  I could probably count on two hands the posts he's made that are worthwhile before I put him on my ignore list a couple of years ago.  And man, that's a horrible insult thinking I was chuck5815, I'm scarred for life.  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## Pete

It's 63 jobs.

Perspective, people.

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## gopokes88

> Guys, Please do not misunderstand me.  O&G is good for Oklahoma, but, it has been declining and simply need to continue to diversify.


Okc and Tulsa are diversified, diversifying today and tomorrow, and will continue to do so. The rural parts of the state will continue to shrink and struggle. A nationwide trend that is not unique to Oklahoma in any way shape or form whatsoever. If anything O&G has slowed the decay of rural Oklahoma. 

Not sure what you’re throwing such a sh*t fit about other than you’re just big mad online.

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## chuck5815

> That's also his shtick, he has nothing constructive or informative  to add, so he just pulls that same thing all the time.  I could probably count on two hands the posts he's made that are worthwhile before I put him on my ignore list a couple of years ago.  And man, that's a horrible insult thinking I was chuck5815, I'm scarred for life.


Wrong. You’ve regularly proven that you know absolutely nothing about commercial real estate, local transactions or business in general.

Your rants fit a lot better on the politics section. Still badly out of touch, even over there, though.

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## Bits_Of_Real_Panther

Please turn out the lights when you leave...

Oh and... severance will be given for driving the final stake...

https://www.otcmarkets.com/filing/ht...__HUePH2yifJth

" Departures of Michael A. Johnson as Senior Vice President and* Chief Financial Officer* and John P. Suter as Executive Vice President and *Chief Operating Officer*

On April 14, 2020, SandRidge Energy, Inc. (“SandRidge” or the “Company”) determined to effect the separation of employment of Michael A. Johnson from his position as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and John P. Suter from his position as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating, effective no earlier than July 1, 2020.

Messrs. Johnson and Suter will be eligible to receive severance consistent with their respective employment agreements, including severance payments and, if applicable, continuation of health and welfare benefits. "

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