Ann: Unconditional on-market Takeover Bid for Tap Oil, page-10

Hard to see a new serious bidder coming into the game where Risco and NGP have 25% each? Chance of success at a reasonable price = zero. More likely the bid just drives the price up as investors/traders get interested and see a chance to make a $ maybe..

To me Occam's razor says they want to buy more shares that are clearly cheap at face value and have some solid upside. They know they probably won't get complete control but either way, the market value of their existing shares will be driven up. And I'll guess we've all got no problems with that.

To me, the drilling/bid combination is the interesting bit - will Risco raise the bid price or pull the offer if we get good news in a few weeks? mmm.. no idea.

Unrelated, there's been no mention of the Mubadala dispute recently? I wonder what's happening on that front..

Also, Brent up again overnight, US$80 next stop. IMO, feels like we're in a fundamentals sweet spot at the moment and maybe we'll get high/higher prices for the next few months (long term glut abates, geopolitical tensions on the up with Trump, July US seasonal demand coming). Some commentary is saying higher prices will stunt demand but I feel like every time this happens, the demand response is very lagged (for obvious reasons).

GLH