sunday reflections, page-2

I am not sure I'd caall these following points facts, but they are my thoughts:

1. As far as I am aware, Walker/Blinderman Chinchilla 1999-2002 and Blinderman/Eskom Majuba 2007 (?) to present are the world's only real long term UCG successes outside Angren in the former Soviet Union.

2. Were it not for a deliberately altered (one assumes) casing detail, Kingaroy might have been (and still could) a third success.

3. The same Ergo Exergy technology is being used for a pending UCG trial by Solid Energy in NZ and by Laurus Energy in the US.

4. Two other Australian companies have been or are likely to be permitted to continue their trials to develop new UCG technology for which I understand there is no precedent of success ... they are truly trialling it would seem ... and neither appear to have produced commercial quantities of Syngas ... in fact, one of those companies had casing leaks in its second trial I believe ... neither exude confidence it seems.

5. So, if the Chinese are as astute as they are rumoured to be, and if Cougar make available all Kingaroy documentation for them to review, there is reasonable chance imo the Chinese will reach the right conclusion of political, not scientific factors around Cougar's Kingaroy demise (for now).

6. In the above scenario, what sensible choice do the Chinese have if they are in a hurry to develop UCG ... they have tried themselves and not been successful ... Cougar are technically ready whereas others in Qld are still developing an alternative technology.

7. Imo, if the Chinese don't overplay the excellent hand (for them) that they have been dealt then Cougar will morph into active UCG in China ... if they overplay their hand, I doubt whether Walker/Blinderman would want to be exploited.

Remember, I said specificaly that the above isn't fact ... it is just me looking at my navel from a different angle.

PD