I have been "invited" by a company named Rockwell Energy
The minimum investment is $100K. Participation would involve moving the $100K from my current IRA to a Sunwest Trust IRA where I would now be subject to an application fee of $50 and annual fee of $190 plus a fee of $10 per transaction after the first transaction per year for a single asset account. For a multiple asset account, instead of the $190 annual fee, I would be charged 0.5% of the asset value if it is more than $38K. I assume that as long as I limit my Sunwest portfolio to the Rockwell LP, I would not be subject ot the multiple asset account fees.
The money they are collecting would be used to acquire the rights to additional natural gas wells within the U.S. and to outfit all the wells with a passive dehydration system (PDS) (see cpshouston.com) that is alleged to be greener and more efficient than current extraction methods. As I recall, I was told that 30% of the NG is lost using less advanced extraction methods.
I was also told that the price of NG would have to slip to $3 for me to lose money on the deal. The "guaranteed - I mean projected ROI" will be 18% the first year increasing to 30% for each ensuing year. I would be capped at a
200% return and the period of the partnership would be 3 to 5 years. I do not understand why the period would be a range of years. I would think it would be a specific time period, for example 3 years, and that the partnership would end after 3 years or when the 200% cap was reached, whichever happens first. I'm also told I would have the first right of refusal for future partnerships.
Rockwell currently has the rights to 20 wells in the Houston area, 11 of which are already outfitted with the PDS extraction hardware. Some number of the 20 are already producing NG and I could expect my first check some time in October (which I would arrange to have deposited in my Sunwest IRA).
I am far from a wealthy person. With all assets included, I barely make the minimum portfolio requirement of $1M and a $100K loss would be significant for me. Of course, I'm asking myself the question, why me and why now? I figure this is related to the current difficulty in getting loans. Companies, who would normailly seek bank loans, are now being forced to acquire capital in atypical ways. To me this could mean there might be reasonable LP opportunities for folks like myself that would not normally exist.
Last night I received an e-mail from Sun Trust with all the paperwork and documentation needed to complete the transaction. I am reviewing it now but of course, I am not an attorney.
My instincts tell me to run, not walk, away from this. But I know there are people out there in the news groups who know much more than I ever will about such investments and why not get their opinions? I am posting this to a broad spectrum of NGs because I know there are many considerations in making such an investment (investment risk, legal, energy, taxes, etc.). If you feel I am posting this to an inappropriate NG, I apologize. If you can suggest an NG I have missed, please let me know. I will try to post all future articles on this matter to the appropriate NGs based on the feedback I receive.
I will be contacted by a Rockwell representative Monday night and I'm sure it'll be one of those "I must have your commitment today" deals (which will end it right there if it happens). Any insights, warnings, cautions, advice you may want to give me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this.
Terry