Santos spells out its plans - big on Dorado, page-2

Well that is certainly an interesting statement:

"A deal had been anticipated by the market, but with the front-end engineering and design process about to start and final investment decision (FID) still some time away, Gallagher is talking patience in the name of value.
‘‘The most valuable time to sell a project is at FID,’’ he said. ‘‘Last year we were talking a 50,000bpd project. We would have sold it on a different concept that is not as valuable as it is today. The Bedout Basin (Dorado is the pioneering discovery there) is getting better over time. Good assets get better over time.
‘‘The running room across this basin is very significant. This is a new basin just opening up. If we sell down, we want to maximise the value and get any strategic value benefit available.’’"

Yes, I thought STO would have done a deal by now to reduce their risks.

But given the above statement, it looks like the board of STO have decided to hang on to them until FID.

Two ways to interpret the above statement:

1. STO did not get the price it wanted, or

2. STO believes there is more value to unlock at Dorado and surrounding areas.

In any case, regardless of 1 or 2 (lets hope it was 2), it means anyone wanting to get a piece of the action at Dorado and surrounding areas will need to come through us.