As I said on another WHN thread when this came up recently, I'm personally convinced that the applicant would be Ophir. To me it just makes enormous strategic sense.
- The areas applied for had a little 2D shot over it already. When Ophir looked at this previously they ended up farming in to our acreage cause they liked what they saw.
- Presumably Ophir has seen some raw data from the recent 3D we have shot, and even though it wasn't over the area these 2 applications cover maybe it's enough to make them have a punt on these two new zones.
- The areas applied for are adjacent to the current acreage we hold with Ophir i.e. any development of the acreages could be more economic if applied to a single contiguous block
- Ophir likes large exploration acreages.
- Ophir prides itself on deepwater exploration (these areas are deeper than our current block) and also wants oil (the Seychelles are believed to have an oil prone geology)
- The applicant has been judged bid qualified, and we know that Petroseychelles rate Ophir as a serious player. Petroseychelles rejected 2 applications earlier this year when they judged the applicant not bid qualified, so we can presume the current applicant is a serious player. Ophir fits with that.
In summary, Ophir knows more than anyone else about this zone, and has already been interested enough to put some cash into it. To me it makes sense that they double up now, when the cost is lower due to the fact that our 3D isn't yet fully processed.
I'm not aware of any official way that we can confirm if it is Ophir or not. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens when the 3 month open tender period expires, or you could ask Ophir/Petroseychelles directly.
QFY Price at posting:
1.4¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
