Ann: Annual Report to shareholders, page-3

Good statement on PE at last...

The market in the year continued to be tough for oil companies. The sustained low oil price has left the industry today considerably leaner as a result and we have seen that the major companies have not been immune to the very difficult commodity market conditions. Our partner in the Senegal joint venture, ConocoPhillips, agreed to sell their 35% share at a price of approximately US$2.20/bbl of 2C resource at that time to Woodside Energy, a price that was surprisingly low and represented an attractive opportunity.
The sale triggered the rights of partners to pre-empt and ConocoPhillips issued the pre-emption notice but on our expression of interest chose to refuse access to all of the required information. The fact that FAR has not been afforded these same terms and conditions as the purchaser has resulted in a dispute with Conoco Phillips pursuant to the joint venture agreement that at the time of writing, has not been resolved. This is a substantial matter financially which involves multiple parties including the Government of Senegal. We have received much shareholder enquiry about progress however as you would appreciate it is difficult for us to comment but suffice to say we have positioned ourselves comprehensively from a strategic standpoint and retain the option to initiate international arbitration. This has placed a very heavy additional work load on our executive and I am very proud of what they have achieved. It is worth remembering that none of this affects our current rights or position and is a matter of managing an opportunity that affords plenty of upside.