pre-open

There could be a couple of reasons for this.

Firstly, VPE havent put out a seperate announcement.

This may have raised eyebrows at the ASX, and led to a trading halt.

Secondly, the OEX announcement didnt include a couple of things it should have included, notably the amount of oil.

While I still think that Rookwood will be commercial, the oil in the Surat isnt that enthusiastic, and Rookwood will probably need jet pumping and so on to come out.

At worst case, it could be about 150 bopd, a la Aldinga in the Cooper Basin, and it's hard to make a living on that.

Thirdly, there may be arguments between the JV partners about what to announce ; John Kopcheff may be less bullish than Oilex are (amazing as that sounds), but Oilex went and announced anyway.

BTW, I got a busy signal when I tried to call Oilex.

Do I think Rookwood is commercial ... yes.

Do I think Rookwood is bigger than 2 mmbl ... no.

Would I be happy owning Oilex shares I bought at 14-20 cents ... yes.

Would I be buying them at 40 cents ... not without harder information.

Ian Whitchurch