counter bid , page-7

Hardmano,

I agree with everything that you put forward could be as likely as my speculation. It is just that I cannot accept that Simon Potter took the first offer that came his way. In my own mind I would like to believe he was able to benchmark the value of HDR against other interested parties before making a recommendation to his and our shareholder liking.

Who is buying we can both speculate on that but one thing is for sure Tullow will have a very good idea because anyone now holding 5% or more of HDR's shares will be notified to them by representatives of HDR under the terms of the SIA

From a spectator looking in at HDR to obtain 1/5th of Ching with its inherent problems and HDR's current operating costs it is going to take a lot of courage on the part of any CEO to make the short term commitment. Any more foul ups in Mauritania would only add to the burden

The real message in my earlier post was do not get to excited to early. I did imply a possibility of a counter bid but I do not believe we can say probabilty yet.

I think Tullow have been brave because of their heavy involvement in Uganda. Mauritania may yet prove a winner but currently its oil production is disappointing at only half of expected daily levels. It is only the high price of oil that is making the daily output worthwhile.

All this talk about Guyane and that is all it is right now. Mr Potter saying he would have news on a farmin that looks now as if it will fail to materialise before he loses his post will be viewed by myself as a sales pitch to keep the shareholder/customer interested.

I view little of real value in HDR today there may be jam tomorrow but that is not guaranteed. I also will be surprised if Shell come in for HDR because I think they of all companies would have done so by now because of their own reserves position. These majors have specialist staff that are aware of what is and is not up for grabs within the industry. As far as we are aware then Shell are not involved. I also wonder if Mr Potter spoke to any of his old pals in BP. I feel much has gone on in the background that we are not privy to before The Recommendation was made in Tullows favour.

It would not surprise me if as soon as the Tullow bid succeeds, if it does, they sell off Mauritanian and/or Guyane interests thereby recouping much of their initial outlay. There I go speculating again

In conclusion I am attempting to put a contrarian view so that we do not adopt an Emperors New Clothes approach to a counter bid