Ann: OTTO PROVIDES UPDATE ON TIMETABLE FOR RETURN OF CAPITAL, page-46

boysy,

ASX Announcement Dec 20th
Otto Energy Limited (ASX: OEL) (Otto or Company) announces that Sergio Castro, Chief Financial Officer, has resigned effective immediately to pursue other interests.

From Dec Quarterly
In line with Otto’s strategic review process to reduce costs and drill no new wells, the position of Senior VP Exploration and New Ventures ceased as at 31 December 2023.

Very different communication styles if they are the same event (resign versus pushed out the door/redundant).

They didn't explicitly state that Will Armstrong is no longer employed by Otto, i.e., like Sergio exit.
I would be very surprised if Steve Herrod sees this as a long-term gig.
He is very wealthy thanks to our BIg Australian (BHP).
In addition, his "cash bonus for a sale" expired March 1st, as documented in the HY report, and was not renewed (I think they would have to tell us if it was ).
This may indicate that a sale is not imminent, and a Cash Harvesting and Distribution strategy will be pursued until a sale can be executed.

If BYE are/was/still is the SM71 buyer, that would have to wait until BYE become financially stronger.
Nick F from BYE told me on 2 occasions that BYE are not interested as they already have 50% = prefer diversity.
However, it is unlikely that he would tell me if they were interested, and/or if SM71 is cheap it may be too good to pass.

As I said, I suspect that they have parked Will Armstrong until Steve leaves, and Will will eventually be the new CEO.
This cuts costs by a similar amount, just a bit later, so it is all fairly academic.

It is the lack of clarity in communications that make me very uncomfortable.

Checked AR: OLE has GC-21 decommissioning cost is/was USD$4.148m or AUD$6.4m