otto energy bhp joint venture, page-14

in your opinion that is...

I work off what is announced and reported in the media and then make judgements based on my experience in the industry.

In any case it is a beginners mistake in any negotiation to put yourself in a position where a deal must be done.

Who knows - the deal may be close, but what was announced was:
"The agreement is conditional on finalising farm�]out and joint operating agreements and obtaining all necessary government and joint venture approvals."

So I would say that given the time that has elapsed since the farm-out was announced and that the final deal has not yet been done two things can be inferred:

1) OEL blew their negotiating position by announcing the deal too soon
2) Negotiations since the announcement have not merely been a case of formalising the deal (or it would have been done by now).

In any case the further deterioration of the GPC situation with additional cash calls on OEL for faster repayment coupled with the upcoming activity in Italy and Argentina and the need to roll over or repay the $US5MM short term debt are the real issues for OEL.

So with big demands for cash and no plan in place as to where it will come from...

p1000