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Report: #1464127

Complaint Review: Bass Energy & Exploration, - Dallas Texas

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  • Reported By: Trey — Washington D.C. United States
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  • Bass Energy & Exploration, 4144 North Central Expressway, Suite 600 Dallas, Texas United States

Bass Energy & Exploration, Bass Energy Exploration LLC, Bass Energy, Barden Bass Exploration Took $54 thousand, next to no communication Dallas Texas

*REBUTTAL Owner of company: Response to Complaint by Trey

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====== Now to the original report posted =======

As a former bank examiner for the U.S. Treasury Department, I should have known better.

 In March of 2017, I invested $54 thousand in two phases (drilling phase 1: $35,000; phase 2 completion: $18,880) in a Bass Energy project know as the "Walking Stick." The project called for three developmental wells to be drilled on a site in Creek County, Oklahoma. Developmental wells are considered lower risk, since the property is known to have oil. Bottom line, my money is gone and all I have to show for it is a piece of paper on Bass Energy letterhead stating the intangible drilling costs for my accountant.

This miserable debacle started with a listing on a business classifieds site posted by a scumbag by the name of Bob Fox (supposedly based out of New Jersey). Bob was so slimy (seriously, he made my skin crawl) that I started dealing with Steve directly. Communication with Steve was excellent before he received my money, and for a time shortly thereafter. By August of 2017, the situation had deteriorated to the point that all of my calls and texts were going unanswered.

There were delays after delays after delays. The stalling was egregious. It was always someone else's fault. Steve would send infrequent and cryptic emails casually dismissing the problems as typical to the oil business. Importantly, he always ended his communication optimistically, and sometimes with religious nonsense.

After the first well was drilled, naturally the geologist's report came back "glowing." It basically said that we had discovered something exciting, and that the well should be completed. Steve called for the completion funds. This is the best part. In mid-July, after the completion funds were called for and we had the geologist's report, Bob Fox reached out to the investors to try and sell 1 unit where the individual failed to remit funds. He hyped up the report, and told us to "not miss out." I immediately replied to Bob saying that selling a unit after the project had started and we had results for well 1, did not inspire confidence. I reached out to Steve and asked him if the results were so good, why didn't Bass Energy just keep the unit? His reply was that the company retained enough of the units, and he wanted to reduce his exposure. AKA - cash crunch.

The completion funds of $18,880 were to cover the costs of completing 3 wells. I expressed my desire to Steve to release completion funds on a per well basis. He declined, saying the company needed the money up front (AKA - cash crunch, and possible intermingling of investor funds). It should come as no surprise that neither wells 2, nor 3 were determined to be "commercially viable", and thus were not completed. It also also should be no surprise that the company did not reimburse me the $12,600 for the wells that were not completed.

Emotionally, I have written this experience off, and I wasn't going to post until an individual messaged me yesterday on Facebook because he found a short review I posted on the company's facebook page. I decided that I have a duty to post this for all others to see.

If you are thinking of doing business with Steve Bass or any of the Bass Energy affiliates, I strongly advise you to look elsewhere. If you're really adamant about getting into oil and gas investing, I recommend starting with a small investment, and look to a company like Crude Funders.  I know I wish I would have gone this route.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me regarding my experience. I am more than happy to share.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 10/11/2016 12:05 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/report/bass-energy-exploration/dallas-texas-llc-barden-took-1464127. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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1Employee/Owner

#1 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Response to Complaint by Trey

AUTHOR: Steve - (United States)

POSTED: Wednesday, December 12, 2018

At Bass Energy, always find it unfortunate to learn a client of the company is disappointed with the service he or she received from our associates or anyone else employed with our company, and especially myself. As any good investor knows, all investments carry with them some degree of risk and oil and gas exploration is no exception, in fact more so than many investments.  

  As for the project, the project was completed to the best of the ability of all those involved and everything possible was done to get the best possible outcome. The individuals involved in the drilling and completion of these three wells are highly experienced Professionals with hundreds of years’ experience between them. 

 Regardless of how much time and resources go into developing a project, it is inevitable that some of those projects will have delays and a less than desirable outcome. This is the nature of the business. Even with mega companies, such as Exxon Mobil, who have hundreds of specialists and unlimited funds. they still deal with unsuccessful projects. Although drilling techniques and discovery methods, have improved over the years, approximate 30% of development wells and 70% of wildcat wells drilled each year are dry holes. 

 The project in question was discovered, developed and executed by some of the most qualified individuals in the area. As a company, we like to go a step further and we employed a third-party company to evaluate the project before we offer participation. The two evaluations were congruent and positive in nature, yet we had two dry holes and one marginal producer. The third well was not completed because of the logs showed no promise, however between the 1st and 2nd well we did five completions at our expense when we were only obligated to complete the objective formation in each of the three wells if the formation is present. I am not aware of one project where we have not done additional work at the company’s expense to improve the outcome for the benefit of the participants which also includes the company. 

 Everyone who participates with our company has seen, signed and answered questions multiple times confirming that they understand that, because of the nature of the industry and that oil and gas exploration is a high-risk venture, that there are no guarantees and there is a possibility they could lose all or part of their investment. The potential loss is made clear, but nobody likes to lose, and although they knew the risks going in, when it happens inevitably feelings are hurt and tempers flare. 

 We are not in the business of trying to trick, cash crunch or evade investors. We are a family-owned business and I take enormous pride in our company and the relationships we form with our clients. As far as communication goes, the fact is that the areas that we work in are often very remote and cell phone service is either spotty or non-existent. All calls and emails are answered as soon as possible. During the drilling and completion phase, updates are sent every 1 to 3 days: prior to the start of a project and after the completion updates are sent every 3 to 4 weeks. Each client is always welcome to call in anytime they like.

 

 As for the unsavory associate mentioned, once issues were brought to my attention it was dealt with swiftly and is no longer affiliated with Bass Energy Exploration. 

 

Thank you for taking your time to read this.

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