The stage is set imo. The next 4-5 months will tell the story. One way it 'could' play out is as follows:
March CHK move to 51% interest
1 April Mike Henry takes over at BHP
April CHK options expiry
May-June JV deal window?
July Oak Dam phase 3 results and possible announcement of phase 4 to include CHK tennaments
Some over on twitter believe satellite imagery shows evidence that BHP phase 3 is closer to the CHK border, possibly drilling the shared sweet spot between the 2 anomalies in the attached image.
BHP will no doubt know what they have by now so IMO we will soon enter the deal phase. But BHP will want it to be Mikes deal and CHK have the option and 51% ownership issues to resolve first.
