Henry,...I think your point is well taken. Phil Ware asked that I not launch any sort of publicity campaign and not write to Jeb Bush (Governor of Florida) so for now, I am holding off. For a while, I was thinking that national press coverage would help to boost the stock price. I'm sure it would. The political forces that could be unleashed might actually hamper any final resolution as you suggest. Unfortunately, as Engler found in Michigan, even a modest settlement with the "forces of evil"<G> (Miller Oil Co. getting $90 Million) produced a strong charge of sellout from the environmentalists.
Our question is: How to maximize our financial benefit from the good fortune of investing in an oil prospect that appears to be panning out in a big way?
The irony of all this is that it should be considered a boon and benefit to the people of Florida. Personally, I'd love to find oil in my backyard. The real price to Floridians is that probably less than 1/10th of 1% of the population would ever even see any evidence of oil drilling and even that group would only see some small structure way off in the distance. In the meantime, major oil production could produce signifigant revenue for the people of Florida.That revenue could pay for a lot of other environmental projects, health care, education etc. I believe the people of Alaska are reaping many financial benefits from oil. The impact in Florida would not be as great because of the large population in Florida, but the realistic negative impact has been blown way out of proportion.
My only concern is about how well Phil Ware is equipped to handle any negotiations. I don't even know if He has considered my suggested compromise "deal" to have the State of Florida "buy" an indefinite delay in drilling. (I've sent my suggestions to him, but He has never acknowledged that he has reviewed it.) I hope his dealing with others is better than his dealing with me, but I seriously doubt it. I hope that the Lykes people are involved in the negotiations and that Phil has a lot of outside help. I also hope that they are not going to try to "steal" the Company from the rest of us long suffering shareholders. |
