Hi All, Please don't get carried away with thinking that FAR...

Hi All,

Please don't get carried away with thinking that FAR will become operator of the SNE project. It will not happen. Large-scale, deep water projects are very complex and can only be successfully achieved by teams that have done and seen it many times before. It is not just a matter of putting a team together; it takes decades of experiences (starting with a lot of mistakes). No bank will lend to a non-proven deep water operator and Senegal would be insane to leave they economic future in inexperienced hands.

I am also highly, highly confident that even FAR do not want to be Operator (of this field).

They have correctly undertaken their own (independent) desk-top feasibility around the new 2P; to support and promote their own economic analysis and hence value proposition.

Until now, they had relied on CNE's economic valuations. FAR have now done their own and concur with CNE's latest figure's....namely US$6.20/bbl (@US$50/bbl)

This, of course, would be just the summery of a more detailed economic feasibility that would have been requested by any PE backers who could not rely on CNE's numbers.

So all of this is for the backers...and not some crazy tilt at operatorship.

I also suggest that both FAR and Senegal actually view WPL as a great potential operator of the project despite the latest 'announcement' clash.

PC has gone a bit too far and should have kept quiet, but its a big game and he's playing it louder than most (it just could back-fire). Its in his/WPL's best interest to do anything to disrupt/upset any attempt to sabotage the deal he's done with COP. CN/FAR know this and, in my opinion, are not taking it personally.

CN rightly wants to have a crack at the PE and has some backers lined up (otherwise we wouldnt be in this situation now). But the lads at COP arrogantly assumed that the minnow FAR would'n't have the capacity to PE and got sloppy on the paper-work. This is what FAR is challenging.

Right now, COP will have a couple of legal teams (in-house and cross-boarder)...maybe 10-15 heads costing north of $100k/d working to clear this (the bill will be picked up by WPL directly or indirectly). And, as we all know, Big Oil (especially US) just love their legal stoushes....So this is what FAR has to get through and it will be expensive for us too. But so worth it.

We will just have to suffer the uncertainty while the legal lads and ladies mud wrestle our future over commas, semi-colons; and definitions.

Welcome to the oil game.

Cheers