Agree Tinstuff that the cost of bringing a heavy rig would have...

Agree Tinstuff that the cost of bringing a heavy rig would have cost Santos a few more million.

however on the flip side, Dukas had great pressure, and strong traces of helium so that would have reduced the risk of this being a dud. Santos would also be aware of the large price increases in helium over the last couple of years. So, I am not sure spending a few more million would have been seen as too big a risk given the above and the potential reward.

Santos has been stalling for years, I gather they supported macbanks takeover of CTP, I would assume their agreement with CTP may have inhibited a direct takeover of CTP. Failing Mac's bid they have been biding their time I suspect in the hope that CTP runs out of money. The half sale of moonee, etc has given us a lot more cash to move forward now with or without them. we have drilling programs in place that have all started and will continue for the next 12 months or more. My main fear is that the terms of our lease require us to drill by the end of next year, if we don't I wonder if Santos would try to grab Dukas for themselves.

We will hopefully know soon if santos is in or out, I am happy for them to go, if we can keep the NT government happy and keep the lease. I would think we could probably do a better deal on Dukas with someone else if we can demonstrate there is helium in Zevon.

We still have Macbank hanging in there, oil and gas are not really their forte, they were looking to build something more substantial but have essentially done nothing, I would expect them to move either to get rid of their oil and gas venture or add to it, no point only having one small prospect when it is not your core business.

Lastly someone seems reasonably comfortable with where CTP is as they have quietly been buying shares in small but noticeable increments so as not to push the price too hard. Shares hit 14c briefly today, roughly a 40% increase since a 10c low last month. That sort of movement usually has something positive behind it, hopefully we will find out what it is in the coming weeks.