Though I believe it was unknowingly, yet still unwise, Zion kept saying "They could not comment on the commerciality of the MJ#1".
Actually what would've been "unwise" is if ZN had made any wild claims before completing the well. Per SEC Guide 2 standards.
This comment in and of itself led investors to have unrealistic expectations that an Exploratory Well could be commercialized.
The art of the scam. If ZN had done otherwise they would've opened themselves up for class action lawsuits later on. It's all part of plausible deniability.
By all E&P Standards, the MJ#1 is a successful Exploratory Well, but is not currently viewed as such due to this unrealistic expectation.
Taking over a yr to drill a dry well while burning up $30M raised by the PSPPs can hardly be viewed as "successful".
Its not all the bad guy's fault. 25% of the blame resides with poor management strategy.
Management's scam strategy of pumping out PRs over the last yr seems to have been successful in supporting their PSPP offerings. Wonder where the money went? The SEC will find out. And there were no bad guys involved.