what could no news mean?

In the absence of an update, we holders are all of course wondering (as we have done so many times before) where things stand. Well until there is any news, we can only work on what we know and perhaps with a bit of common sense what might be likely. This morning, while in the shower, I asked myself the question......

What could no news mean?

I thought it would be worthwhile to examine the options in the hope that I could form a considered opinion on where things really stand. So...what could no news mean?

a) It could mean all parties are still working on it
Presumably they would only do so if they felt there was a reasonable chance of a successful outcome. Otherwise it would be a waste of time and they might as well shut it all down

b) A deal has been reached and there are no issues left however remaining contracts are not yet signed. This has may been done to delay the announcement for some other reason and signatures are planned for some date in the near future, after which we will get our announcement

c) Could it mean all avenues of deal success are exhausted?
ie The farmout with current PF is dead. One would think that if this was the case, then that would have been announced.

d) Are there any other possibilities?

I recognise this might be simplistic as I am a simple bloke, but to me the lack of announcement suggests we are either (a) or (b). I prefer (b) but clearly (a) is not too bad. If we are at (a), I would think that the longer it takes, the greater the chance of success? Surely the parties would not invest that much time on the issue if we really did have a dead duck on our hands.

Anyway, feel free to chip in with other possibilities or shoot it down if you wish. For what it is worth, I got out of the shower feeling reassured and optimistic.