Oncer,Once again you recognise and note some of the most salient...

Oncer,

Once again you recognise and note some of the most salient issues, however I believe you put far too negative a slant on things.

You basically say they got "lucky" after bad performance.

One could however say they have been unlucky with Bo Rang and been distracted with into wasting much of the last two quarters development work there. And you could place this against the background of successful exploration, of which the recent two are just too good to be just luck.

I am prepared for dissapointments along the way, and indeed we have had them. I am prepared for a massive writedown of 2P reserves in Bo Rang, and some other from last years exploration. But what I will still relish is (with these latest two additions) another substantial increase in reserves for 2010, and all covered from cashflow. Plus exploration outside L44 in Thailand, Australia, NZ, Indonesia all being paid for without resort to CR.

As for Bo Rang, well sometimes P50 dissapoints, and after the downgrade I am sure they will find ways to get decent production from whatever reserves are there, but it might take a couple of years, as it obviously won't be priority with the exceptional WBEXT and the urgent need to get L33 through the low tax realm asap in 2011. One might also note that when a well fills 20,000 bbl storage on testing, then it has probably already paid out.

Yes some of us 12 months ago underestimated the challenges being faced and bought (or bought back in) too early and at too high a price, but it's a risky game. I am glad I have the resolve to double up in the low 30's. I am sure these two discoveries will yet get me out of the red, but what is really important is the resources and the reserves being added. They will improve on the extraction part of the game.

EL