NATCHEZ — Stockholders, board members and employees heard positive reports at the annual meeting of Natchez-based Callon Petroleum on Thursday.

President and CEO Fred Callon led the meeting, held at the Natchez Convention Center.

Greatest excitement for the company’s future centered on the acquisition of all shares of the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas exploration area known as the Entrada Field.

Callon shareholders Gene and Beverly Kruse traveled from Nixa, Mo., to attend the meeting and were not disappointed, they said.

“I think this company has great possibility,” Gene Kruse said. “That potential of $30 a share could double in another few years. That $60 looks probable.”

Kruse referred to projections in Callon’s presentation that showed how the full acquisition of Entrada affects the value of the company stock.

“We like to think our stock price will move more in the direction of our assets as we look to production at Entrada in 18 months,” Callon said.

On April 18, Callon Petroleum acquired the 80 percent working interest in Entrada that had been held by BP Exploration and Production Company. Callon was a BP partner as owner of the other 20 percent.

Gaining that 100 percent working interest in a major Gulf of Mexico field is a milestone for the company, Callon said.

“Several things have come together for us to acquire the BP interest,” he said.

“We paid $150 million up front and will pay another $40 million after producing 12.5 million barrels of oil equivalent.”

Merrill Lynch Capital Corporation financed the acquisition, Callon said.

He showed, using illustrations, how the Entrada Field compares with others in the Gulf of Mexico. “We think we made a very good acquition,” he said.

The field is in 4,650 feet of water, with two wells, seven sidetracks and potential for further exploration opportunities, Callon said.

The company is negotiating with ConocoPhillips to tie in with that company’s neighboring floating production facility in what is known in the industry as a production handling agreement.

“Our engineering group has been busy doing line work,” he said. “We have plans to be out next summer laying the flow lines and to have the first production by early 2009.”

The impact on the company is huge, he said. “For a company our size, 15,000 barrels of oil a day is a big impact.” The field also will produce 30 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

On April 17, AG Edwards published a “buy rating” for Callon stock, saying that the Entrada project “is worth about $23 per share.”

Callon stock was priced at about $14 on Thursday. The AG Edwards statement said, “The market has failed to appreciate the significance of this transaction, in our opinion.”

The Callon annual report states that during 2006 the company’s average daily production increased 11 percent over 2005.

Furthermore, net income increased 51 percent, from $26.8 million in 2005 to 40.6 million in 2006.

The company has 86 employees. Callon’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CPE.”