here is the good news so please get upset, page-121

This is Mr Lincoln Augustus, first second cousin of Holymagiman.

Greetings to everyone from Africa. Yes, we are in Africa, where the loins are always on the prowl, all the time, moving, moving, moving, with such strength and vigour that they can oft times pounce, not once, not twice but maybe three times or more in quick succession before the unsuspecting prey knows what’s what.

And we have seen the gorillas in the mist, and maybe, just maybe, we will get to see the rare blonde gorilla with the golden rain, but that story has to wait a little while now, some few weeks hence, to perchance reveal itself in a different time at a different place.

And on the way back to Kampala, we passed a swamp, a very big swamp, that they were draining, to enrich the soil and grow better crops. And they were doing this with a network of drains, starting from the middle. And as the middle cleared of the mud and gunk, they used the original drains in the middle to bring in the sweet fresh water, and built further drainage wells more laterally to continue the cleaning process.


And my mind wandered over to the Eastern Star, with its producer wells and its shield wells that will become producers in the end, and I was impressed by the remarkable similarity of the two situations.

For the Eastern Star will initially use the shield wells to drain water, and then, as the water gets less in the area concerned, the initial shields are converted to become producers, and a new shield is built more laterally to “protect” this new producer.

And so on and so forth. Most clever, almost as good as using one mongoose to kill two black mambas at the same time, and that is saying a lot.

So, it seems that Eastern star has encountered more water than they expected, but that is all really good, because as everyone is aware, the gas is displaced by the water, and as the water is drained, the gas follows.

It was most encouraging to note that gas production commenced as soon as dewatering pumps were turned on, showing that the target coal is fully saturated with gas. So much water indeed, almost as big as Lake Victoria, or, if one wishes to be pedantic about things and have an exactitude that bears no reproach, almost as big as a small Lake Victoria, which is still big by most standards.

So, after getting 250,000 cfpd, they decided to ramp up the production. And struck some problems because the poor pumps could not cope with the ramping that they were getting.

The family would have been happier if Mr Casey and gang had ramped up the shares, (as some companies have been doing recently, upping their 3P reserves and telling us that they expected further significant upgrades, and making the share price move on a wing and two prayers while having less than 40PJ of 2P, but that is the way of life, and one takes the good with the bad, and as long as there is salt on the fish, then the dinner is noce), but all that the Eastern Star did was to ramp up those pumps.

And I suppose, having read somewhere that nobody in Australia works for nothing or even anything at times, those pumps got the fright of their lives when asked to do a bit of extra work and just went off into a closedown mode. All very Australian, all very expected, and all very nice, having that unexpectedly large reservoir.


So on they went to the shield wells. Much has been said about these wells, much has been debated about them. The family is still firmly of the opinion that these wells are initially drainers, then as the de-watering gets less, they become producers. In the recent briefing, Mr Casey states that
“The shield wells are single lateral wells, one on each side of the multi-lateral well sets that will help speed up the depressurisation and gas production process.”

I suppose others interpret this in different ways, but whatever way it is interpreted does not really matter as long as the time-table is met. And all things appear to be on track so far.

That most esteemed gentleman, Mr Hardmano, has most thoroughly gone over the latter part of the briefing, and i feel that the family’s views are but a pale reproduction of his thoughts, but nonetheless, we will comment a little on what has been said.


Mr Casey has said that “Among the benefits Santos brings are its financial strength with little risk that capital constraints will get in the way of attractive opportunities”, and we read from this that the probability of further capital raisings are less now. So we are all very happy, in the knowledge that our 51 shares will not eventually be diluted down to the equivalent of 43 shares.

In fact, it has made us most happy, and we have purchased another share, making a total of 52 shares, or one share for every week of the year. It is very exciting to think that now we can awaken every Sunday morning and say our good morning to a different share from the one of the week past, before we go off to Church.

Holymagiman has even thought of naming each share, and that is such a capital idea that I have left him in charge of it. I suppose it is easier to identify a named share than to try to get acquainted with an unnamed one, and it is highly recommended in Debretts.

I stray.

So Mr Casey goes on to talk about “ its massive size, which is sufficient to support stand-alone world-scale projects of keen interest to both ESG and Santos.” So now we are getting to feel and hear about the full magnitude of the Narrabri Coal Seam Gas Projects, and I have to confess that Mr Unicorn sure knows what he is talking about when he is allowed to talk.

Mr Casey also said “its advanced nature, relative to other surrounding acreage” Most interesting indeed.

I asked Holymagiman what he made of this and Holymagiman laughed and laughed as he drew on his Jamaica Numba One Spejil Blend, and this kept him going for a few minutes.

Then he stopped and explained to me that this was like comparing JoyJoy Johnson’s plantation to Holymagiman’s. Holymagiman has harvested his crops for the year and is already starting the second one, while JoyJoy has yet to even start thinking about harvesting his first crop. This has made JoyJoy quite envious, and he has even offered to buy out Holymagiman’s field. But Holymagiman is awaiting better offers, which he knows will be forthcoming, by an by.

And so it is with regards to the surrounding acreage, which is nowhere as advanced and developed as Eastern Stars. And who owns this acreage...Santos. I suppose they are as envious as JoyJoy, and they must covet this advanced field as much as JoyJoy covets Holymagiman’s field. Something to ponder upon...........the degree of covetness residing within santos

The 4 market opportunities are also interesting.

1.A regional market via Wilga
......... so that cash flow is maintained

2.“Heads of Agreement with the APA Group, which owns and operates the entire gas transmission pipeline infrastructure between the Central Ranges and Sydney, together with links to Canberra and Victoria”
......so that Eastern star is able to ramp up certification of 1P and 2P reserves that has an ultimate market.

3.“While we already have in place Memoranda of Understanding for supply of 1,300 PJ of gas for use in generation of electricity, a number of other parties are also investigating power station development opportunities in northern NSW.”
.....again this removes constraints on certification of 2P reserves, and we read into this the meaning that the company intends to increase its certification of 2P reserves above and beyond the 1,300PJ level, sooner rather than later.

4.“The fourth stage involves development of a new world-scale project to allow the full potential of the Narrabri Coal Seam Gas Project to be realised. Possibilities include, for example, LNG or methanol export via Newcastle etc”.
...WE READ IN THIS PART OF THE BRIEFING THAT THERE ARE VERY SERIOUS NEGOTIATIONS TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW REGARDING LNG EXPORT VIA NEWCASTLE, AND WE FEEL THAT THIS IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT PART OF A VERY SIGNIFICANT BRIEFING.

But I really must go now, for my brain is clouded by visions of a golden gorilla emerging sometime in the months ahead, and the freshly killed kob is slowly grilling on the fire to a perfection that assails the senses with an aroma most devine.

Blessing of the Lord
MLA