here's a thought, punters, page-11

Steve said last year that he would not "give away the farm' so to speak.

He knows full well the Majors will low ball, "oh it's really frontier Steve", and "well we really need to think about 3D Steve" and "no one else has drilled there yet Steve" YEAH and no one else has 5.5 billion barrels prospectivity either you big Num Nuts.

So we pick up one or two line of sight to production Gas assets as well, and organise this advisory board. Sends a clear message that we are moving forward and not to count on us needing you (Majors) more than you need us.

REMEMBER Steve was on the Farm IN end of negotiations in prev roles. This is a game he knows very well indeed.

Hence my post last night regarding the advisory board. These two men have more contacts on their speed dial than everyone on hot copper put together, sovereign wealth funds, advisor to Wall St institutions etc.

I think the whole advisory board announcement was more a signal to the majors than anything else. Especially as it was pointed out here that there was nothing new regarding the appointment of our Chief Geophysicist.

Seems a pretty top heavy addition to a little company with very little cash and "supposedly going nowhere" ?

IMO the offers currently on the table are (obviously) not acceptable to our board and we are probably only a few tweeks away from a deal, little bit of give on either side and we're done.

Or we do it ourselves.

Or I could be talking through a hole in my head?

I just can't see why else we would need these guys for any other reason than to pressure the Majors into a more equitable deal or to call their bluff completely and just go it alone.

Cheers