ucg report !!, page-29

That BG walked away is not really relevant. The industry is full of instances of big discoveries by minnows after majors have walked away. BG is just a mid tier gas focussed company who had a simple agenda and would have followed the herd mentality on the poor prospectivity of the conventional targets - and they may yet be proved right in so doing. These conventional targets remain high risk now, but they are certainly worth following up on given potential scope.

I expect BG had no interest in the shale plays which are the ones with the biggest potential. Until recently, very few companies did. So I think the constant references to BG walking really have little meaning.

It has been clearly proven by surrounding players that funding is available to explore these shale areas, and growing interest means better terms now. So the farmin delays to me have turned out to be to CTP's advantage, however they have occured. The new staff have clearly voted in favour of the potential and I expect significant improvements in how they operate now. And it's not as if there aren't other job opportunities - the business is very competitive still when looking for staff. So while it is often useful to look to the past in terms of rating a company, it is also best to not be blind to improvements made, and the changing industry wide view of the potential of these plays.

As to UCG and the deep coal, I have no idea of the potential, nor do I currently ascribe any value to it. But I am extremely pleased management has palmed this off to a 3rd party to control so that they can focus on the enormous potential of their petroleum acreage and bring in some farminees. I have little doubt this will occur in the short term, and would be happy with anything we get out of the coal.