why the panic, page-9

Why it got bought up yesterday and sold down today is a complete mystery. They have recently advised that they're putting out an expression of interest to build the Australian portion of the pipeline. Maybe the market doesn't actually want them to do a pipeline now? Its frustrating when they lose over 5% of their value the same week they annouce a new oil and gas discovery. With the volume traded, this could well be a corporate play to move the shareprice down before a take over offer is annouced - make the 'premium' look a bit bigger... not every day that $60m worth of oil search goes through.

------------------

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Papua New Guinea's Oil Search Ltd. (OSH.AU) said Tuesday that the PNG-Australia gas project partners are seeking a new partner to build the Australian pipeline portion.
"Oil Search and its partners pursuing FEED completion on the Australian Pipeline will be going out with an expression of interest for an incoming pipeliner to take on the Australian pipeline in the near future and if that is successful, we will want to move forward," a company executive told a PNG investment conference in Sydney.
A number of companies such as Australian Pipeline Trust (APA.AU) have already expressed interest in taking on the A$4 billion portion of the project, which was to have been built by a partnership consisting of AGL Energy Ltd. (AGK.AU) and Malaysia's Petronas Gas Bhd. (6033.KU). But AGL in particular has said recently it doesn't want to proceed.
The partners in the US$2.5 billion upstream component of the PNG gas project are ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM), Oil Search, Nippon Oil Exploration (5001.TO) and MRDC, representing local landowners.
Reflecting the Australian preference in recent months for cheaper coal seam gas from Queensland, AGL Energy earlier Tuesday said it will buy a strategic 27.5% stake in Queensland Gas Co. Ltd. for up to A$292 million.
AGL has agreed to buy from QGC a total contracted volume of 540 petajoules (PJ) of gas over 20 years.