hardmano Remember you from the good old Hardman days. I was...

hardmano

Remember you from the good old Hardman days. I was there last night and I can tell you the vibe was very positive. There was nothing new but by being there I was able to glean a few little things that wouldn't be newsworthy in itself.

Firstly Cath and the chef greeted everyone individually, which was a nice personal touch.

She mentioned Shell had contacted her recently and said they "really missed out on this one" and had "got it very wrong"

Have very good terms with the PSC as the performance bond is capped at $5m, where as in comparison in some of the newer PSC's can be up to $50m. She mentioned this as this money cannot be accessed.

Mentioned COP wanted 700mmbl recoverable before they started development, which she said would get it easily.
Cath seemed very keen on drilling Bellatrix as the first exploration well as it sits above the edge of SNE so once through target could deepen the well down to SNE.

Mentioned thin sands at FAN weren't brought into calculation but would be once appraised which probably will not happen until mid next year.

COP had 30 people working dilligently whereas CNE had 5, also said FAR had for the first time employed a petroleum engineer on contract who is embedded in COPs offices in Huston.

85% of FAR budget will be used toward Senegal, must admit I wouldn't be too concerned if they commited 100%.

There was a question at the end about permeability and how it has not been published,but said they (JV) had to all agree before anything was released, said something about not having to reveal as there was lots of other info avail. I may have this bit wrong. Also said they haven't revealed the age of rocks in discoverys as this could reveal info to other companys, so more a protection thing.

Cath also goes to Senegal once per month on a regular basis which is a 30 hour flight. Also said she wished the share price was higher, I gathered this was so they could raise at a higher price.

I'm sure there will be a more comprehensive report from some of our more learned colleagues and if anything springs to mind will chime in.

Cheers all