daski00Good points. Mine were similar in that I noted that this...

daski00

Good points. Mine were similar in that I noted that this money will allow them to maintain their exploration committments in all their blocks offshare Mauritania and elsewhere. If they are very confident that blocks 1,2 7 and 8 contain significant hydrocarbon accumulations or as you say Matamata is big then it was a prudent move.

Regarding the tax on the sale - HDR has and will operate at a loss until Chinguetti starts to flow and I'm sure they can counter-balance any tax due with exploration writeoffs.

Like you I am uncertain how this sale will be received but I can't see how it can be seen as negative. Given that the market value of their equity in the central has risen 4 fold since pre-Tiof, that indicates that the whole of theor holdings may well be significantly revalued.

Cheers

H