LovbigGood post, I think you have encapsulated what a lot of...

Lovbig

Good post, I think you have encapsulated what a lot of people have been thinking.

Just a comment on what Simon has/hasn't said. He is in a difficult position, as is any CEO of a public company. He has to issue accurate and unbiased statements and is not permitted to make statements privately that are not public knowledge.

At the same time I assume he is bound by agreements with Woodside regarding Mauritania that prevent him from making the statements that he would like. In Uganda he has to be careful not to make forward looking statements that may pump up market expectations and then not pan out, so as much as he may believe in the potential of Uganda he needs to be extremely careful. It may be that the enthusiasm for the recent issue was as a result of Simon enthusiastically promoting Uganda to the instos, and although it mighyt have got the money at the time, it has probably resulted in a tarnished reputation for both Simon and HDR.

Guyane is still being negotiated, Simon should not be saying anything more than he has been. Suriname offshore blocks, ditto.

I find it funny that John Doran is held up as a model of how a CEO should behave. My recollection is that he has been regularly cursed on this board for speaking first and thinking later. He regularly makes comments about the results of different wells that are personal opinion (right or wrong) and not necessarily backed up by the limited facts available at the time. I don't believe he is a good role model for HDR, if Simon had acted like John Doran over the past 6 months we would be in even deeper $hit than we are now.

Face it, Simon and HDR have been well and truly shafted by Woodside. They have been kept in the dark about the true situation at Chinguetti, they have been messed around with the delays on Tiof and they have been affected by the incompetence of the woodies geos. If you want to complain to/about someone, I think it should be Don Voelte. Simon's strategy of diversifying Hardman away from Mauritania is the best defence we have from similar problems in future and he should be commended for it.