I've been noodling around with an idea for a while now. The thing on my mind is when do investors actually gain from the big gobs of money E&P companies spend on M&A? A lot of promises are made in the early days. But as time wears on, I rarely see any effort made to reconcile results with these promises. So bear with me as I go through this little exercise. Now I am not saying that M&A isn't necessary as strong companies buy out smaller, weaker companies to get their premium assets. That part of the transaction is easily understood,…