Australian Article 14/06/2007Gippsland Offshore Petroleum (GOP)...

Australian Article 14/06/2007

Gippsland Offshore Petroleum (GOP) 21.5c

GIPPSLAND Offshore Petroleum chief Cathy Norman says the junior explorer has kept a low profile since its February listing, which is no exaggeration. We've struggled to find half a dozen media mentions during that period.

But when speccie drillers bob their heads up on the lunch circuit, there's always a reason -- and it's usually related to the imperative to raise more cash.Fortunately that's not the case with GOP, which rates as one of the bourse's great misnomers, given its only minimal interest in the famed Victorian oil province after one dry hole too many.

As with many local hopefuls, GOP is pinning its hopes on fields afar: Jamaica, Madagascar, Kenya and France's Aquitaine Basin, probably in that order.GOP is availing itself of a mapping tool exclusively licensed from BHP Petroleum's people.

The tool,Falcon, enables more accurate seismic data in tricky geographies.

The deal with the exclusive tie-up is that BHP has first dibs on farming-in on any decent discovery, so there's a sugar daddy paying close attention.

The most likely share price driver is Jamaica, where GOP shares 14,500sqkm of offshore tenements with a privately owned partner. GOP's material mentions a field of more than 10 billion barrels, along with the crucial rider ``potential''.

There's enough interest in the calypso capital alone to rate GOP a SPECULATIVE BUY.