I think you are probably right that it is a bit of a concession that the more prospective areas are further west. There are other seismic lines to in Block A, but getting as close to Shells targets is presumably based on
Tobler's Law, which would suggest you are better being closer to the areas where people seem to be having success.
And let's be honest, there is a reason Shell have focussed their drilling in these areas, rather than around the original Daydream well. They (Shell) clearly felt things looked more promising in the west, and it seems Elixir now think the same. The results shown in slide 5 suggest Elixirs 2.8mmscf/d was a pretty optimistic interpretation of the rate data. It would be interesting to know the average flow rate through that period.
Another way to think of it is that if Elixir truly believed that the reservoir at Daydream 2 was great, and the issues were operational/engineering only, why wouldn't they drill their next well close to Daydream 2? If they can avoid the previous operational issues it should be nearly a guaranteed success because the geological uncertainty should be low. The fact they are drilling elsewhere really suggests they really aren't as positive about the results as they have made out previously. They obviously can't pull a 180 compared to previous statements, but (in my opinion) the language Stuart Nicholls uses seems a bit more realistic/grounded than what's been put out previously. I also appreciate that he's actually put the rate data out there, even if it isn't all that positive. It gives more confidence that if he says he thinks something is good in the future, it actually is.
Overall, the reason there is benefit to holding lots of acreage is that poor results in one area don't kill the company completely. Any of Lorelle 3, Daydream 3, or maybe even Diona 1 could bring success, so fingers crossed!
