SEC Form 4

FORM 4		UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0287 Estimated average burden hours per response: 0.5
	Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person* THOMAE ROBERTO R (Last) (First) (Middle) 500 NORTH LOOP 1604 EAST, SUITE 250 (Street) SAN ANTONIO TX 78232 (City) (State) (Zip)	2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol EXPLORATION CO OF DELAWARE INC [ TXCO ]	5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) Director 10% Owner X Officer (give title below) Other (specify below) Secretary
	3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year) 12/13/2005
	4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)	6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line) X Form filed by One Reporting Person Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price
Common Stock, par value $0.01	12/13/2005	12/15/2005	M		50,000	A	$2.61	50,000	D
Common Stock, par value $0.01	12/13/2005	12/16/2005	S		38,016	D	$6.96	11,984	D
Common Stock, par value $0.01	12/14/2005	12/19/2005	S		11,984	D	$7.02	0	D

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
Incentive Stock Option - Sep 1996	$2.61	12/13/2005	12/16/2005	M			50,000	09/01/1998	09/03/2006	Common Stock, par value $0.01	50,000	$2.61	0	D
Employee Stock Option- Sept 98	$0.98							09/04/1999	09/04/2008	Common Stock, par value $0.01	25,000		25,000	D
Employee Stock Options- Sept 99	$2.13							09/23/2000	09/23/2009	Common Stock, par value $0.01	50,000		50,000	D
Incentive Stock Option - Aug 2001	$2.96							08/01/2002	08/01/2011	Common Stock, par value $0.01	50,000		50,000	D

Explanation of Responses:

Remarks:

	/s/ Thomae, Roberto R.	12/15/2005
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number.