clarity

For those unfamiliar, I am pro OBL and pro management. When that sentiment changes I will cease to hold stock - life is too short not to sleep well at night.

Having said that, there have been times when I have been a little critical, or at the very least questioning, of our management team and/or the information they have provided. Today's announcement has answered my concerns.

The owner of the 'other half' of the Derby Block has always been of interest to me - it has long term importance for OBL. A while ago I carried out a paid ASIC search which provided some information as to the entity behind Backreef Oil Pty Limited. There was even some scuttlebutt around the traps that OBL may pull off a deal to secure the other 50% of the Derby Block, in exchange for OBL shares in some way, shape or form. I was not thrilled with the announcement by BRU (last year) re the proposed acquisition of 50% of the Derby Block from Backreef Oil Pty Ltd. In September last year I posted on HC my concerns that this announcement by BRU had received no official response by our management. Well, now we have a response - and it would seem management have taken the time to assess the legalities of the proposed BRU deal and are now intending to act accordingly. Now we know how OBL management feel about Backreef Oil Pty Ltd trying to sell there stake in the Derby Block to a third party. This is important information for investors. Now we have some clarity.

The Native Title issue has certainly been a lesson in patience, and we are still not quite there yet. However, we now know the current state of proceedings and, without reading too much into the announcement today, it would seem OBL have a reasonable chance of securing a positive outcome re Native Title. Now we have some clarity.

The FMG announcement in November last year certainly caused some excitement. Conversely, the lack of news thereafter certainly caused frustration for some. Today's announcement was obviously a disappointment to many. If FMG terminated discussions yesterday after OBL meeting their obligations by early December then from what we know I consider OBL management have acted correctly given the circumstances and legal confidentiality agreements. Here also we have some clarity.

So, whilst Native Title is not yet finalised, we now know the current situation. Whilst we don't yet know the outcome of proceedings re 'the other half' of the Derby Block, we now know the current sentiment of Management. And, whilst we don't have FMG on board, at least we now know the state of play. This is all important stuff, it offers a degree of clarity to the investor that we did not have last week, or last month.

Another poster asked yesterday "If we don't get an announcement tomorrow, then what?"
Well, we got an announcement, but in my opinion it does not change the answer to the "then what" question.

The answer is simple. You can buy, sell, or hold. The same choices we have everyday as investors.

I mentioned in a post a while ago how we each invest such that we may realise a return on that investment. And that 'return' has both a 'value' and 'timeframe' component. And, everyone has different 'value' and 'timeframe' expectations. It is very important you clearly understand YOUR specific 'return on investment' expectations. If the announcement today, and the clarity contained within, affects your ability to meet your investment expectations then you have the same choice as the rest of us once the market opens - you can buy, sell, or hold.

Management have done well given the most trying of circumstances. Once these announcements are out of the way the sooner this forum can get back to discussing the serious matter of the complete works of Monty Python.

BRM

PS - This is not investment or financial advice. Do your own research and sleep well at night.