Energy Investing Alert: Soon All Investors Will Be Able to Hit It Big in Oil and Gas

By the time I retired as a university professor last year, I had seen thousands of gifted students pass through my doors.

Invariably, I would try to give them what passed for advice.

One of these bits of wisdom stemmed from a question a student posed years ago. "If you could only give a single piece of advice," he asked, "what would it be?"

My answer became a staple in all my classes from that point forward.

"You may not believe it," I told him, "but someday you are going to be able to pay the rent. Once that happens, what's it going to be that gets you out of bed in the morning?"

Energy Investing 2014

I would pose this as a question and listen to their answers. Then I would leave them with the real point I wanted to make...

"For me," I told them, "it is all about keeping up the excitement and anticipation. You do this very simply. Each morning, challenge yourself to push the envelope: pose a new question, solve a new problem, reexamine a situation from a new perspective, or just refuse to admit defeat."

It's the way I have lived this life, one that has seen some rather unexpected turns.

One of them is happening right now in Fort Lauderdale. It's a change so stunning, I can barely contain my excitement and anticipation this time.

It's a way for ALL investors to get in on direct energy investing deals...

Shocking the Market (Part One)

Today, Marina and I are in sunny Florida for a series of meetings that began yesterday and continue this morning with individuals involved in oil and gas financing.

As a result, what may be coming is the next major advance I have in mind to allow average retail investors into the big-time deals that finance oil and gas projects, providing some huge profits along the way.

Of course, we had already broken this ground with Money Map Project #1, the first-ever multi-well project funded by small investors. As described in an earlier issue, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had changed its regulations governing these deals, effective at the end of September. These new rules allowed smaller guys to participate directly in owning parts of oil and gas production.

Prior to these changes, and continuing to today with the "normal" way drilling is financed, a few fat cats would invest anywhere from $500,000 to several million in the deal. In the end, you'd be left with no more than a handful of guys waiting to rake in the profits.

But our approach was completely different - and here's why it took the market completely by surprise.

For two years, I had been reviewing possible projects and establishing a set of required provisions that operating companies had to follow to maximize returns while lowering the risk.

All we needed was for the SEC to change the playing field. When they did, we moved forward with Money Map Project #1, releasing it to our subscribers at the end of last year.

What happened next shocked both the investment and oil/gas communities: A $45 million, 25-well drilling project in two of the most productive U.S. basins... all funded by the little guys!

A little over three months later, the initial wells are now being drilled, with the first set to be completed any day now. When that happens, the developer will "call" the well, and the entire project will be closed to further investment.

More than 900 subscribers came on board, with full-unit ownerships going for a fraction of what the "traditional" investments would have cost. At $12,500 per unit, we had created the lowest barrier to entry of all time.

And with the 10 requirements I insisted upon, Money Map Project #1 investors are now awaiting the arrival of nice monthly checks for the life of the wells, along with some nifty tax advantages, secure in the knowledge that the company extracting the oil and gas draws its profits only as the investors do.

This last wrinkle was completely unheard off until we came along.

Direct Energy Investing: Easing the Barriers to Entry

But what the SEC gave with one hand, they made more difficult with the other.

The new regulations required that you had to be an accredited investor to participate. For individuals, the SEC's official definition of "accredited investor" is:

1) A natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person's spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, excluding the value of the primary residence of such person; or
2) A natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year.

In addition, the new standards were accompanied by a 22-page accreditation form. That created a few new hurdles.

But along the way, our first project taught us quite a bit that will help us streamline the accreditation process for Money Map Project #2, making investments easier for our members.

Now our next project should be released in about two months. Once subscribers are receiving regular payments from the first project, Money Map Project #2 will be unveiled. This will be with a different company, drilling in a different geological location.

Nonetheless, one element will stay the same. I am still insisting on my 10 requirements, giving members the same improved profit potential and lower risk.

But one major change may be included. While accredited investors can still get in, a way for even smaller investors to participate is now emerging.

Shocking the Market (Part Two)

That brings me back to the meetings here in Fort Lauderdale today. I am now developing a way for all investors to get a piece of the action this time around.

But until the process is completed, the lawyers concur, and the regulators sign off, I cannot discuss any of the particulars. But judging from the reactions of the "money people" assembled at our meetings, we are going to be able to move again long before anybody else has even digested how we did the first go-round.

My objective this time is to have a dual track for investors. The first would continue to provide direct investment into the next project for accredited investors. But this time, I intend to have a vehicle in place that will allow everyone else to participate in a way that does not require accreditation and is no more difficult than a traditional investment in stocks.

So stay tuned for two things to happen...

The first is for money to start flowing to investors in Money Map Project #1. The second is the finalization of the new doorway for "unaccredited" investors.

Everybody ought to have access to what is shaping up to be the most important new way to make considerable energy investing profits.

And it is only going to be rolled out right here.

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About the Author

Dr. Kent Moors is an internationally recognized expert in oil and natural gas policy, risk assessment, and emerging market economic development. He serves as an advisor to many U.S. governors and foreign governments. Kent details his latest global travels in his free Oil & Energy Investor e-letter. He makes specific investment recommendations in his newsletter, the Energy Advantage. For more active investors, he issues shorter-term trades in his Energy Inner Circle.

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