quarterly disappoints, page-19

re: quarterly has some positives 618

Well spotted on the Suriname offshore block. I didn't notice that the first time I read through the report.

This confirms what a lot of us suspected regarding HDR bidding on the Suriname blocks. If I remember correctly these get announced August 2nd, so if HDR gets the block(s) we should hear something shortly after that.

The Tiof concept development looks like they are learning from the mistakes of Chinguetti. If Ching had a similar drilling and production TLP with a plain FSO rather than an FPSO, we wouldn't be in the pickle we are in at the moment. With the complex geologies we are getting in Mauritania it looks like the ability to target small pockets and rapidly remediate non-performing wells is going to be key factor.

With the price of oil trending the way it is I cannot believe that Tiof will not go ahead.

Regarding the Guyane farm-out, HDR is probably negotiating with majors that have rigs and others that don't. By pursuing rig slots independently they make sure they still have some negotiating power with the big boys who would otherwise have them over a barrel. In reality, the only majors that I can see being likely at the moment are Shell, Exxon, Chevron and Petrobras, and the latter two have more history in South America. My guess is that either Chevron or Petrobras will be involved in Guyanne, and that is where the pressure to drill the Matamata first is coming from. Petrobras in particular is big, close, aggressive and has the rigs, it seems like a natural partner.

Simon had previously been adamant that the smaller plays would be drilled first in Guyane, if he has switched focus to drilling the big one first there must be a strong incentive to do so, as a failure there would impact the prospectivity of the whole field