sle writes "Reads to me that Ascalon is dead and buried as well."
Like Crackity, I am more optimistic as I read "We fielded some large entity inquiries, bit (sic) without any continuing interest."
A lot can change in a short time. All it takes is for a major to take on a vision for the future that includes "stranded gas fields". Maybe linking up a number of fields, maybe back-filling when there is capacity? Who is to know? The good thing is, that there were inquiries.
Who knows what the conversation involved? Partial interest? JV? Maybe terms if they were discussed, were not mutually agreeable at the time.Maybe someone believed there was a fire-sale. IMHO DYOR