I certainly appreciate your legal 'thoughts' on arbitration and believe your suggestion that any possible asset 'turnover' is less likely than some form of cash settlement is very valid.
I, for one, am still awaiting COP to disclose "Completion" of the deal. Please refer to post #22813664 back in late Feb where I noted in their Dec 10-Q that...
"...Page 92, Note 6 discusses asset disposals during the year. The language is interesting as they specifically state "...we completed the sale of..." for each asset but specifically omit this phrase for Senegal and just state "...we sold..." Hmmm."
On May 18, COP filed a 8-K where it stated "Completion" of the huge oil sands deal for $12.6B.
We still have not seen a 8-K "completion" statement for the Senegal transaction which could provide a very tenuous asset handle for the Arbitrator/FAR to reach for.
Nevertheless, its game on: timing, information and hearing preparation, quality of the legal teams is now all that counts.
And let's not stick our rose-googled heads too far in the sands...COP has a very huge, very experienced in-house legal team where no mercy and no retreat are core KPIs.
No less than 113 legal eagles are currently muscling for LinkdIn status at COP, many of whom are very experienced specifically in the international arbitration arenas. But that's not all...COP, like many Majors, have numerous external law firms on retainer so you can just imagine the size and quality of the legal grunt that COP can and will put at this.
COP don't intend it to be a fair fight....and it wont be. Its as real "David and Goliath" stuff as it gets in the Oil Patch. Huge Kudos to the FAR team if they pull it off but it will not be at all quick or easy and it is not, unfortunately, assured.
Buffalo; I look forward to your commentary on the proceedings as they become available.
But bring it on!
Cheers,
FAR Price at posting:
7.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)