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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

SandRidge Energy Board Ousts Tom Ward
SandRidge Energy Board Ousts Founder Tom Ward, Names CFO James Bennett as CEO and President (http://www.cnbc.com/id/100802906?__source=yahoo|finance|headline|headline |story&par=yahoo&doc=100802906|SandRidge+Energy+Board+Ou)

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

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

It was to seek a new direction.

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

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?

$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.

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

What?

$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.

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."

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

$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).

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.

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.

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

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

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?

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...

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.

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 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/20/us-sandridge-ward-idUSBRE95I1Q020130620)

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 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/20/us-sandridge-ward-idUSBRE95I1Q020130620)

Do you work in the oil and gas industry?

What are the odds American Energy Partners buys Sandridge?

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.

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.

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

Do you work in the oil and gas industry?

No. I am a Sandridge shareholder though.

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.

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.

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 (http://newsok.com/steve-lackmeyer-tom-ward-is-looking-for-prominent-downtown-office-space/article/3854979)


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.

More buyout speculation:

SandRidge Energy could be attractive target for Repsol, says Susquehanna - Yahoo Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sandridge-energy-could-attractive-target-124041624.html)


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.

More buyout speculation:

SandRidge Energy could be attractive target for Repsol, says Susquehanna - Yahoo Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/sandridge-energy-could-attractive-target-124041624.html)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Shell to Investors: "We're Not in Kansas Anymore" (RDS-A) (http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/09/25/shell-to-investors-were-not-in-kansas-anymore.aspx)


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.

interesting, thanks for sharing

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 OEDV…it'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 red…if 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.

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.

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.