Cruiser,
when it comes to success of appraisal wells , from a historical point of view you may be correct, however, with the event of 3D seismic and enhanced interpretation , the current success rate with appraisal wells is very high. This is not to say 100% , however, it is high enough for me to tip in more $. Note that I use the words "appraisal " wells. Development wells strictly speaking are already on a successful well, and if you step out from that well it becomes appraisal well to evaluate the extent of the field.
As for WPL, they have bought very little in Australia and have mostly bought overseas . This has not always worked out well for them and they are beginning to understand sovereign risk and the risk of getting into bed with small oilers . WPL performs best when it makes discoveries and develops them . Unfortunately from time to time some senior executive has a bit too much caffeine and wants to expand overseas or buy into another companies discovery. This rarely works and you only have to look at the disasters that BHP have invested in and ultimately have taken big write-downs.
BRU Price at posting:
17.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)
