This is apropos of nothing, but at this price, I can see a...

This is apropos of nothing, but at this price, I can see a takeover target on STO back more clearly now than any time in the past.

Market Cap is ~$6bn
Asset Value of GLNG alone is $20bn (leaving out the $5bn blowout)
Santos' other assets in the Cooper Basin (Moomba/Ballera) and the NT (Mereenie) as well as offshore would make it a nice cheap foothold for someone to join moves by other international majors, Chevron (Wheatstone), Shell (QGC/BG), ConocoPhilips (APLNG) and ExxonMobil (Gorgon).

My guess would be BP, as they have a toehold in Browse as a minor JV partner. In the Shell bid for BG, they posted a 3GBP per share bonus as well as a 0.445 swap to Shell B shares for BG Shareholders. This was a nice, rich deal to presumably nullify any protracted wranglings.

The David Knox move to lift the 15% foreign ownership cap imposed by the SA government facilitates a takeover, hostile or otherwise.

Having said that, I'm not sure I would put my money where my mouth is just yet

Must be a painful watch for mum n dad investors though, seeing this bluechip taking a near geometric race to the bottom.