'jft310' pid='54887' datel Wrote:Art- they will say it's the new rigs which has a basis in fact . Two new High Arctic rigs on the way . Finishing Ant 4 and 5 early with published results feeds the takeover monster. Don't want that want to build the plant and then expand it . Window for takeover closes with Total payday opens again right before the plant opens . My opinion.
I never did buy your report that a structural member on the A4 rig broke and was fixed in a day but the government had to approve the fix and that approval took a month. If true that story would fit into one of those conspiracy theories floating about.
I'm not so sure what theory underlies your suggestion that there are windows opening and closing for IOC's buyout. Every buyout is entered with risk and reward. Risk and reward might slide up and down in time like a window but I can't imagine any IOC buyout window ever closing (absent a government takeover).
A theory that was advanced quite some time ago continues to make the most sense to me. That theory goes no major wants to start a bidding war for IOC because of a shared belief the sum of IOC's parts might be acquired at a cost less than that of the whole.
So as I sit back and enjoy a cup of Papua New Guinea coffee from Dunn Bros I'll just quietly celebrate the Total victory. That victory will if nothing else help assure competition for IOC's gas