Exactly right Autosime. This market doesn't care about "potential" and the oil price (and Kerry Stokes!!) is certainly keeping them on the market's radar.
That's why I am "hoping" that Icon does have early plans for APT594 which is an oil area, is on their immediate plans for the very reason that you mention, to replenish cash burn. Let's see how that turns out.
Frankly, I would think that both Beach, and definitely Icon, would be very keen to get some return from 218 and 855 which might have taken much longer with Chevron. Reg Nelson, in an interview with Oil and Gas Investor Australia, when discussing why he wanted to only work for small companies, said, I think you find a few people, myself included, who get caught up in large corporations but want the ability to be imaginative and to move quickly on things without being too hidebound. I'm sure I could have had a lucrative career in a large corporation, but, I didn't want that".
Reg has now moved onto the board of FAR energy, another "small" company, and we see Rob Cole moving "down" from a "large corporation" to a relatively "small" company in Beach. Let's hope that that can be interpreted that he also has the same attitude that Reg left behind for Beach.
That same story went on to quote Reg in saying that "the Nappamerri Trough is over-pressured and likely gas saturated and that's why even though we have built and retained a very strong land position in the Otway, and we've had some very good initial discoveries down there, our target was the gas right beside Moomba" in Apt855 (he put that first) and PELs 33 and 49 (218)!! We went boldly where no one had gone before and drilled in the deep part of the basin to see what we would find" (We know what they found!!) He went on to say "I think the critical thing on existing basins will be the shale plays and the tight plays particularly given the situation with the states on the eastern sea board".
I genuinely believe that Icon and Beach won't be messing around to get some cash out of APT855 and 218 (?in that order?).
ICN Price at posting:
6.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)