Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Samuel J. Orr on February 16, 2013 at 10:49pm

Jay: Please do not delete such great work. It is invaluable especially for near computer illiterates like me. Your posts are exceptionally good. Thanks so much for the all the work you have. I have only been able to pose questions, voice my suspicions, and urge extreme caution before signing with DUX. Your research has provided much data that reinforces my suspicions about this company.

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Permalink Reply by Markus on February 16, 2013 at 11:08pm

Washington County alone has an area of around 640 sq miles which is equivalent to 409,600 acres (according to my calculations.)  Average lease acquisition costs of say $3,000 per acre equates to over $1.2 billion alone in potential lease bonus money.

My point is that this play is going to take a long time to develop and there will much wrangling (lease swapping, selling, etc.) along the way.  Infrastructure build out is obviously a critical constraint though I think that much of what has been started in the northern counties is going to simply have to be 'digested' before any really significant lease development occurs in the south.  We are still at the tip.

In the end, the big producers will probably end up with it all...there will be many DUX like entities jumping in and out along the way.  

Remember that your minerals have been there for a very long time already...sit tight for a bit longer and let the play unfold. 

I hope that DUX indeed does pay out...this can only be good for Washington County as well as neighboring counties.

And, let's not forget that a very large percentage of the acreage is HBP in the county.  Once the small producers start selling their deep rights, and the acreage is consolidated, we will start to see what the acreage is really worth.

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Permalink Reply by K. Smith on February 17, 2013 at 8:29am

Jay, I agree!

Some quick cash to lease your land to somebody that you don't know, and a life time of problems from an operator that destroys your land is simply not worth it.  Find out who you are signing up with before you put your signature on the dotted line makes a lot of sense.  You will have to live with that decision for years to come!

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Permalink Reply by Seeker on February 17, 2013 at 7:45am

Adam Popejoy, the only member of Dux Petroleum LLC is a 30 year old part time real estate agent!

Thanks to the research by Jay and others this is a summary of what we know about Adam Popejoy.

This link confirms that Adam Popejoy is 30 years old.

http://www.corporationwiki.com/Texas/Lubbock/adam-popejoy/37453001....

Adam Popejoy’s active real estate license.

http://www.trec.state.tx.us/newsandpublic/licenseeLookup/LicenseeDe...

That license shows he works for Lubbock Rush Realtors, Inc. and has a link to Rush Realtor’s license

http://www.trec.state.tx.us/newsandpublic/licenseeLookup/licenseede...

Rush Realtors website

http://www.rushrealtors.com/

The Rush Realtors website has an “Our Agents” tab with pictures of 8 of their agents and apparently Adam Popejoy is not important enough to have his picture on the list. If this was a huge realtor with 50 agents, they might only picture their top agents. However this is a small realtor with 9 agents (including Popejoy) and only 7 real estate listings.

http://www.rushrealtors.com/Web/AR423569/CustomContent/index/5107348

A phone call to Rush Realtors confirms that Adam Popejoy works there, at least part time.

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Permalink Reply by Seeker on February 17, 2013 at 10:28am

In another of Jay’s posts he provided links pointing out that the principle address of DUX Petroleum LLC along with 5 other companies associated with Adam Popejoy is a small, single story house in a residential neighborhood.

Another poster showed how to get more information about a property in Lubbock.

Go to the Lubbock Central Appraisal District site and do an address search

http://www.lubbockcad.org/Appraisal/PublicAccess/PropertySearch.asp... 

Entering in the address results in this information.

http://www.lubbockcad.org/Appraisal/PublicAccess/PropertyDetail.asp...

The house is zoned as a single family residence with an appraised value of $99,641.

To view the house go to GoogleMaps https://maps.google.com/  and enter the address 4403 48^th St. Lubbock, TX 79414, then click on the picture of the house.

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Permalink Reply by Seeker on February 17, 2013 at 2:09pm

What do the public records show about the companies at 4403 48^th St. Lubbock, TX 79414 and Adam Popejoy’s involvement with them?

Popejoy is involved with all of the companies except Caprock Grass Co., LLC.

It appears that none of the companies have listed telephone numbers or employees.

Wt Caps and Caprock Leveling (spelled Levelling on the State of Texas Taxable Entity site) are “Not in Good standing” with the State of Texas.

Some searches show Caprock Levelling with a telephone number (which turns out to be a cell phone) and two employees (unlikely as it is not in good standing). It is listed as a residential re-modeler.

An earlier post pointed out that a GoogleMaps search address for YA piping of 1001 Avenue B, Lubbock, TX 79401 showed a granite and cabinet shop. The 20 year owner of the building has never heard of YA Piping. Jay’s search showed that a telephone number for YA Piping turns out to be the cell phone of Adam Popejoy and the same number he lists for his part time real estate job.

All of the people associated with that address are in their early 30’s with the exception of Jorge Arreola, who is 37. Following up on Searcherone’s suggestion, there could be a Texas Tech connection. Word is that John Wells characterized them as sounding like fraternity brothers. Texas Tech is only 4 miles away and students live in the area.

Searcherone made the point that DUX Petroleum LLC could be a front for another company. Ask yourself, why would a company with $187 Million to risk on unproven acreage ($162 Million for the 40,000 acres Dux allegedly acquired from shallow well drillers plus $25+ Million for Watertown) choose a 30 year old part time real estate agent working out of a small house in a residential district as their front man?

If they really have $200 Million available to risk don’t you think they could at least afford to rent a small office in a real office building with an actual telephone number? Wouldn’t they invest $1 – 2,000 in a functioning website? Why wouldn’t they choose a front man for the shell company that at least had some actual, verifiable oil and gas experience? There are thousands of them in Texas.

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Permalink Reply by 2z248p19vqnh9 on May 10, 2013 at 12:07pm

Concerning 'Jay's research'...Maybe Jay himself 'happened' to HIS research. Maybe his 'don't tell' lease was paid in full...you never know.

You all are REALLY, REALLY bothered - almost 'out of proportion' bothered. Don't YOU have a 'price'? - IF you are employed by the G/O industry...everyone has 'their price', so YOU KNOW what I mean here...and if you don't, it's NOT good to 'lie' to yourself.

How much GOLD would you hand over for JAY's research? Must be an incredible guy. 'Top-Secret security' kind of fella', eh? WHAT is going ON with this??? It is almost FRANTIC!

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Permalink Reply by 2z248p19vqnh9 on May 10, 2013 at 3:42pm

Jesse - takes one to know one, eh? Don't take the 'n' out of your 'Drang' - it would end up being SUCH a 'drag'. It's a 'drag' being 'fished', pro.

You're a good guy. Swim with the sharks - all day long. Keep swimmin', you MAY 'get somewhere'.

As one light lights another, nor grows less - somethin' NEW, pard? Come on, super shark.... SWIM!

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Permalink Reply by searcherone on February 17, 2013 at 12:32pm

Seeker, I went to the google map and panned around till I found 4403 48th Street and there was the Texas Tech flag flying in front of the house which is what I had found earlier in the week as Popejoy's alma mater.  So very interesting  the little details one can see on the web, looks like this is a good old fashioned home based business!   IMHO he is working for some bigger fish who doesn't want to be known.

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Permalink Reply by Samuel J. Orr on February 17, 2013 at 2:50pm

Why are we having this discussion? As Jay previously pointed out, if one leases to an LLC and they do not pay or if you have to sue them, your recovery or judgment can only reach the assets of the LLC. A judgment against Shell, BP, Antero, Gulfport, Chevron or any number of other companies would assuredly be collectible.  See also the link which I believe was put up by Jay to an article explaining how these shell companies are often used by larger entities. It works like this: Shell company with little or no assets leases a bunch of properties and presents them to large well funded real O&G company which purchases the leasehold interests of only the best properties. The shell company retains the other leases and pays nothing. Landowners sue but shell LLC has no assets so  any judgment is worthless!  If DUX has leased 40,000 acres, I sincerely believe a lot of people who leased to DUX are going to be disappointed. My warnings are an attempt to save others who have not yet done so. Perhaps all we can do is to pray for those who are inclined to lease with DUX despite all the postings of the many red flags that would cause a person of reasonable prudence to RUN away from DUX and as quickly as possible.

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Permalink Reply by Jack Straw on February 17, 2013 at 3:52pm

Dang Jay and Samuel, you guys sure make it hard for some poor Texas boy to come up North and cheat people.

We're all here, because we are not all there!

 

Thanks to you and others for the good work,

                                                                        JS

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Permalink Reply by Seeker on February 17, 2013 at 2:53pm

Joe, you bring up a valid point that an attorney can use his address and act as a registered agent for many companies. If you are referring to the Corpus Christi address that does not appear to be the case here.

For example, do a search on Islander Oil LLC which leads to

http://www.corporationwiki.com/Texas/Corpus-Christi/islander-oil-ll... 

This shows that Willard H. Hammonds is a member and director. Go to the bottom of the page to the “Officers at Island Oil, LLC”, find the Willard H. Hammonds line and click on his name.

http://www.corporationwiki.com/Texas/Corpus-Christi/willard-h-hammo...

Go to the section “Companies associated with Willard H. Hammonds” and click on “Show 28 more connections”. This will show that Willard H. Hammonds is President, Director or Member and that each of these “is an active roll held by Willard H. Hammonds” in these 31 companies. Clicking on the companies shows that their addresses are the same – 4418 Ocean Dr. Corpus Christi, TX.

In my experience, if it was just a case of an attorney acting as a registered agent, that is what his title would be.

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