kockatea, page-30

I think its really silly for people to now be blaming management. This is a "proof of concept" well - they never guaranteed the "concept" would be proved; nor did they say that the entire frac process (and following) would proceed without any risk of delay; nor did they put the oil in the well to cause delay; nor did they cause the flow-back to not come out as strongly as they, and we, hoped. Nor are they the only oil / gas company that finds things don't always go as well as we would hope.

Sure, the announcements could be more slick, but I for one am glad they are not spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on spivs to sugar-coat the messages so people don't spit the dummy.

Then, given round the clock shifts, I have no problem with a company of this size giving its staff a holiday for Christmas; plus, it seems that they (who do seem to know a bit about this process, and are consulting with tech experts) think it will be beneficial to see what the well does itself pressure-wise.

And for us arm-chair critics, did it occur to you that this decision would have been taken after consulting with the JV partners - both of whom, I dare say, have management with some technical knowledge and who did not fall out of the last shower of rain.

There probably will be a cash-flow problem in the new year - given how far they are from production, it was probably always going to be the case.

Finally, the market values cash flow, and writes down the risk associated with potential cash flow subject to lots of conditions being met. I see similar complaints on the AVB thread, where people whinge that the share price should be so much higher because there is so much copper in the ground - how can the market be so stupid etc? Well, until customers start paying cash, the risk averse will look elsewhere. Same as with LYC - lots of potential, sure, but no runs on the board as yet.

If you don't like risk, try a term deposit; but really, don't blame NWE management for any of this.

Rant over, will return with poetry this afternoon. Looking forward also to the ever predictable slanging match with Mushashi this afternoon. Good luck everyone.