announcement out, page-26

Too true, Goggo, not what we were expecting, and unfortunately on the surface it plays into the hands of the "Bash CTP Brigade", who have been hoping that today's announcement would be a disappointment. However, you've also quite rightly pointed out the 'bleeding obvious'. This is far from the end of the world for CTP, and once the serious investors have had chance to fully digest and comprehend the import of the announcement, they will probably see that it actually has some very positive aspects.

According to the sceptics, knockers and downrampers, CTP's coal was, is and always will be worthless, so this announcement regarding coal exploitation should have no bearing whatsoever on the company's prospects if those people are to be believed, because according to them the coal had no value to start with.

Along with a number of other people, I totally disagree with that viewpoint, and I believe that the coal will in due course become a very substantial earner for CTP and whoever comes on board to develop the project. My reaction to this announcement is that I wish that CTP had done something like this somewhat sooner, but I guess that it has taken time to start to get others to realise the potential in Central Australia.

The other point of course is that this announcement in no way affects any potential JVs or farm-ins on the oil and gas, and I'm still hoping for some positive steps in that regard in the very near future, so I'm not going to rush to sell my CTP shares any time soon.

Having worked in the oil industry for one of the international majors, I know only too well that the wheels of progress often turn agonisingly slowly, but when you are dealing with multi-million dollar projects, getting it done right is far more important than getting it done fast.

Today's announcement sets out a course of action which appears to me to be eminently sensible as a path towards maximising the value of the coal deposits.

In the meantime, I hope that the company is making substantial progress towards negotiating a deal (or deals) on the oil and gas.

Mike