TXN (ASX) more scuttlebutt

Originally posted by Mad Punter ↑

Mad Punter - have to agree with you. I hope I'm wrong as well! lol... Looking at AUT's chart over the last 3 years and you've have to think that opt in drilling can be rewarding to shareholders.

I suspect that TXN may adopt a different approach though = use the Seitel/Wandoo prospect generation agreement + Clifford Foss' expertise to throw out new targets - lease them as cheap as possible, prove them up and sell them.

If they continue to use this style of business model where the shareholders will get rewarded is;
1) if the acerage is sold at a premium to the $23k/ac current benchmark - and given the way TXN has gone about deliberately spacing its drills out to prove up most of its acerages I suspect TXN will get a significant premium &

2) if the company then does something like a return of capital with a significant portion of those funds. (A special dividend wouldn't be overly attractive given the lack of franking credit TXN currently has)

3) then the company could go back for more acerages with the remaining funds (+ enough to drill them) and round we'd go again

As a side note I also suspect that as gas targets and with the gas price down near $6 - Coolangatta and Scarborough are going to continue to be held on ice and Dave Mason and the 5 techies in wandoo are throwing up oil prospects that could replace them permanently.

And more scuttlebutt is that one of the UBS analysts is banging the table about a potential take over attempt (ie $200m+ of EFS vs current market cap of $150m) Wouldn't put too much cred in it though - as usual I've been watching the top 50 shareholder and UBS haven't moved. Hard to beleive them if they don't put their money where their mouths are!

As I've lamented numerous times - lots of prospects/potential for the company and some awesome techincal work going on by TXN/Wandoo but if we could get John Armstrong (chairman) and Des Olling (corporate sec) to improve their communications and not hold their cards so close to their chests we might actually get some new insto interest. Then we'd get the price cranking.