the farmin with cnooc, page-2

"Under the terms of the Exoma Farmin Agreement, CNOOC has acquired a 50% participating interest in Exoma?s ATP 991, 996, 999, 1005 and 1008 located in the central Queensland Galilee Basin by contributing $50 million towards exploration and appraisal expenditure during the Farmin Period..."

I took that to mean exactly what it says...an interest in the tenements (and the success or not of them I presume) as opposed to an interest in the company per se.

That was after re-reading the announcement a few times when it came out.

So if the results are good, CNOOC gets a 50% interest in the tenements subject to spending the money.