so it's sounds more like you just don't want to hold...

so it's sounds more like you just don't want to hold through development, not that they can't.
fully understand your reasoning, it's a good point from an investment standpoint.

my opinion for what it's worth -
the JV will require little to no expertise as santos are operator and pipelines are being BOO by Jemena.
north from what I can gather is going to be a fairly straight forward project as the gas will be getting processed either by Denison to the west or at the JVs facility by santos.
COI have had no issue drilling exploration wells I don't see how what they will be doing differs very much from that, just lots more of them.
always risks with development but I think in this case pretty minimal.

like you I'd much prefer a takeover.