A much better transcript is now available on Seeking Alpha. I can not give you a link. Maybe we could ask Admin to put it up somewhere for us. Your work is always much appreciated.

This section is especially interesting:

"Evan Calio - Morgan Stanley, Research Division

Welcome, Michael, and thanks for your opening comments, your strategic comments. Yet, maybe more specifically, if I could ask your thoughts on IOC's resource. So really, 4 buckets: the 4.7 Ts involved in current negotiation, the additional gas around Elk/Antelope, Triceratops and exploration. InterOil's resource has been, over time, subject of a passionate street debate. You are, in my view, uniquely -- a unique skill set to analyze this resource. I mean, you're a doctor, a PhD in geophysics, bachelor's in geology, 25 years in the industry, significant portion in region, as well as focused on LNG. Could you discuss your due diligence process and any conclusions that led you to essentially opine here on this key debate with your career? And related, where could it all be in 5 to 10 years from when you signed up? What could the long-term vision of the potential look like? And I have a follow-up.

Michael Hession - Chief Executive Officer

Okay, thank you very much. That's an excellent question. Let me talk about the view on the resource. You're absolutely spot on. I did a lot of independent DD [ph] on this resource. First of all, I obviously sought out the Gaffney Cline reports, and I sought out the GLJ reports. These things -- it's always very important to get an independent view on what's in the subsurface. I then sat with Dave and his team, and they've taken me through the prospects and have taken me through the geology of Elk/Antelope. And there's an old adage in the business, "You find oil and gas around existing oil and gas accumulations." So first of all, I think there is quite a reasonable verification of what we've got in the ground from Gaffney Cline and GLJ. But I also believe, from what I know from my personal experience and from what I've seen elsewhere in basins, there's a high likelihood that we will find further hydrocarbon resource in the area. Now I've also since engaged independent specialists that I have known through my 25 years. What we -- I think what we've called exploration gurus, who've got extensive experience with the mega majors. And I've got to tell you today, I'm feeling that this stands up as an exploration province with any exploration province in the world. And that's why I've asked Dave to work through mobilizing rigs and getting us to the upside. But this is all about upside, getting after the upside that I believe is around Antelope, Elk and Triceratops. So we are in, I believe, an area that's got -- that is under-explored and has got a lot of potential. The truth of the matter will be, we'll find that out when we drill. There's no guarantee, but this is a place where I honestly believe that this is a good area to spend our dollars and a particularly good area to spend our exploration dollars. 5 years' time, well, of course, in 5 years' time, what I want, I want to be looking across the table at Dave, and I want to see him smiling, telling me that he's made a number of discoveries. And what I would hope is that we've got a situation in 5 years' time where we have established infrastructure, and we'll have the first LNG project in the area. And having established infrastructure, if there's InterOil LNG project in the area, I will be looking at building further terrain from the basis of the gas that Dave has yet to find."

And this:

"If I could make 2 comments. As an executive team, we've sat down, and Dave really has been high-grading the portfolio. And we're looking at high-impact exploration wells. So you're absolutely right. A discovery in this area (referring to Wahoo area) will de-risk a whole part of the geology and geography, and the prospect itself, if successful, will undoubtedly be high impact. Your question or comments around partnering, yes, we are actively in discussion with companies, and we are looking for a strategic partner. We're not just looking for a partner who brings dollars. We're looking for a partner who has an appropriate strategic fit and will help us work together to try and capture the upside, the potential upside that sits around Elk, Antelope and Triceratops. Let's not forget, Elk/Antelope is the biggest discovery in Asia in the last 20 years. And we want to work out if we've got more of those in the neighborhood."

'Palm' pid='27176' datel Wrote:Well, he must have unless SA is up to their deceptive tricks again. I just kind of assumed that since this is from the CC transcript, he must have said it. But maybe it's just me.

Palm, MH did indeed say those things.  I thought the second of the excerpts was very telling.  MH actually interjected those comments following a response given by Dave Holland before they took another question.  I think as MH continues to do the "vision thing", he will be a very convincing spokesman for IOC´s potential without all of the sidebars offered by his predecessor.

katytrader