Volf,Dorado construction cost = US $2BIL (100,000 bpd)Santos...

Volf,

Dorado construction cost = US $2BIL (100,000 bpd)
Santos share (80%) -= $1.6bil
Sell down 30% for US$450mil
Now Santos share 50% = $1bil minus the $450mil sale proceeds = US $550mil Total cost

Pikka construction cost = US $2.6BIL (80,000 bpd)
Santos share (51%) = $1.3bil Total cost

Don't be fooled..As you can see Dorado was by far the better project for Santos to pursue.

IMO at the time, Santos having just taken over Oil Search (Pikka being one of their assets) the board and ceo had to justify the hefty dilution to their shareholders that somehow Oil Searches PNG assets were not the only prime reason for the dilution, so they picked Pikka instead of Dorado as face saving exercise at the expense of CVN et al.