Hi Strat,I also have been following BHP and their other...

Hi Strat,

I also have been following BHP and their other interests in the Pines.
If one was to say they are pulling out of a country surely that would involve ALL interests, would it not?

After researching hours of geological data and reading hours of information on what has been discovered in this fairway that extends past Brunei, I believe SC55 is a massive oil and gas play at the top of this trend.
Murphy oil drilled a similar play a few years back and not too far away and now produces 100,000b + per day from the well.
When BHP took over SC55, one clause that I thought was odd was that the seismic was to be confidential (why be secretive if you own it?)
It may have been a great advantage to them to be the operator or own sc55 to compliment their other SC59 in the area- so to walk away from SC55 and and still hold the SC next door seems rather odd, does it not?

IF someone (not BHP, but anyone) was cunning and greedy it may be feasible to try and buy a Company like Otto? But that might be difficult if 70% of the company is tightly held.
Another ploy may be so undermine Otto's hold on Sc55 by using timing and money.
If one used money, in the right places, they may be able to influence any number of people in the right places to hold things up and loosen the hold over time on the service contract.
Of course they would have to be very patient and very careful that it looked entirely like a natural turn of events and that it could never be traced back to the real perpetrators.
But if the prize was big enough and the right people were corruptible, it may be a successful ploy.

However, the above may only happens in movies and couldn't possibly happen in the real world....or could it?

Back in January 2012 I found on the Transocean website and posted on Hot copper that BHP had cancelled the contract on the rig that was to drill Cinco. It took a number of days if not a week for an announcement to come from BHP that they had cancelled the contract and if anyone cares to look, the details that were available on the Transocean web site outlining who is hiring the rig and date details is now absent.
Strange that happened within a month of the above taking place.
But coincidences do happen I guess!

What would be really strange is, IF Otto is refused SC55 and it is put up for sale, BHP may decide to buy it because they have decided to drill in service contract 59 that's next to SC55 and so can also drill in SC55.

If that happened it would be hard for the Philippines DOE to turn them down.