chinese, page-110

Anatol. The reason why Buru and Senex get mentioned in the context of entry by majors / takeovers, and NSE doesn't, is that they control or at least operate vast acreage which is rapidly being derisked. Majors aren't always the early entrepreneurs, but they don't mind paying big premia to take control of the commercialisation of someone else's discoveries. One reason why NSE is dropping off the radar is they sold operatorship of their Canning acreage to Conoco (no criticism of that, they had little choice). It's most unlikely that Shell or Exxon or BHP would buy NSE and then sit there as junior partner to Conoco. So NSE just has to bob up and down like a cork on a wave as events unfold around it. Of course they have their Merlinleigh block, but that's early days and dry gas. Maybe good, maybe not. But by the time it's ready for development there might already be a lot of Buru gas heading south.