Where are the Elephants?

[Libtardius Maximus]

[quote='jdeo1969' pid='46531' dateline='1404838294'] Being a baseball junkie, I cannot help but leave this analogy I feel like a Cubs fan right now.

Ugh.  THAT was an ugly shot.  I don't know the reason for the 1969 in your moniker, but I remember 1969 very well.  In 1969 I was a Cubs fan from Chicago going to a school in New York, a school teeming with Mets fans.  It was not a pretty Autumn.  With a six game lead on the Mets and 8 games left in the season the Cubbies found a way to lose.

Two words for you Art...Steve Bartman.

[katytrader]

Getit, thanks for your thoughtful post.  I have had money in IOC only since 2010 but have become so accustomed to market place noise that I pay no attention to the parsing of sentences, comments on competences, symbolism found in photos or shirt colors or whatever.   The tone on SHU has become decidedly shrill, the steady efforts of some posters notwithstanding.

In my teaching days I had a bit on how people from some cultures cannot abide by silence and often feel moved to speak even though they have nothing particularly new to contribute.  Wittingly or not, MH has provided new case material to illustrate the point.

katytrader

[jdeo1969]

'ArtM72' pid='46544' dateline='1404841772']

Being a baseball junkie, I cannot help but leave this analogy I feel like a Cubs fan right now.

Ugh.  THAT was an ugly shot.  I don't know the reason for the 1969 in your moniker, but I remember 1969 very well.  In 1969 I was a Cubs fan from Chicago going to a school in New York, a school teeming with Mets fans.  It was not a pretty Autumn.  With a six game lead on the Mets and 8 games left in the season the Cubbies found a way to lose.

[/quote]

A black cat runs iinto the cubs ondeck circle at Shea.  Lib, I was at the bartman game.

[CAC]

'ArtM72' pid='46544' dateline='1404841772']

Being a baseball junkie, I cannot help but leave this analogy I feel like a Cubs fan right now.

Ugh.  THAT was an ugly shot.  I don't know the reason for the 1969 in your moniker, but I remember 1969 very well.  In 1969 I was a Cubs fan from Chicago going to a school in New York, a school teeming with Mets fans.  It was not a pretty Autumn.  With a six game lead on the Mets and 8 games left in the season the Cubbies found a way to lose.

A black cat runs iinto the cubs ondeck circle at Shea.  Lib, I was at the bartman game.

[/quote]

*******

I also was at the Bartman game.  Bartman helped the Cubs cover the "over" if I recall correctly. 

And I think KayTrader nailed it...there's not much to say right now...but we keep talking (me included) anyway.  

[Palm]

Except the SHU "buy" meter is getting ready to flash.

[Indoreservoir]

This is disturbingly unbelievable. Pet starts a thread about the substance of current and future exploration, and I address a question to him about oil as a target, including a quote from Raymond James about that, which happened to have the word "patient" in it. Suddenly, totally ignoring the substance of the thread, whiners come out in droves and completely take over the thread, turning it into ANOTHER repetitious whiners' thread! I'm beginning to wonder whether people like Pet, Palm, Tree, Sam, etc., and I should just stop posting anything until we have material news. I'm not trying to place blame, but I can't help thinking having supposed shareholders constantly whining and criticizing and complaining about supposed negatives and failings of the Company and management, past, present, and future, can't be helping the stock and may be hurting it, kind of like the old saying, cutting off your nose to spite your face. And they really have nothing new. In spite of all the problems and delays (past and present) repeatedly being complained about and beaten to death, justly and unjustly, there is no doubt in my mind that IOC is by far in the best condition and position for the future that it has ever been in, not the stock, but the Company, which eventually will be reflected in the stock; and I feel sure new management should get most of the credit for that, given the resources that were found so, so many years ago. Does anyone really believe, in hindsight, IOC was in a good position with Exxon a year ago with competitors walking away? Did new management screw it up, or save the Company and create a better future for it? I strongly suspect the latter. How can people talk like IOC or others in PNG have not had significant problems and delays and failures with drilling, going all the way back to at least the 1950s? They almost lost and were unable to finish Elk 1, albeit a lesser discovery. They stepped out too far with Elk 2 and got nothing. Have people forgotten, the ones that were here, the interminable problems and delays with Antelope? Does no one think OSH, with better financing, and others in PNG have not had many problems and delays? How about OSH's apparent fiasco offshore in the Gulf? I would bet shareholders of other companies have not been counting the days and constantly complaining and whining on line. Bottom line, IOC has had enormous exploration success in PNG, on a shoestring, where others, including majors, have missed out or failed. I am hearing, by the way, that Rigs 2 and 3 are so old and inefficient that they will be replacing them after the current wells. Maybe that has something to do with the problems and delays, and thanks to current management, they have the capability to do that. Previous management was never even able to get in a position to use Rig 3; this is the first experience with it, at Wahoo, with by far the worst problems. I'm not trying to make excuses and not saying I'm not frustrated with the erroneous target dates and delays, and the communications, and maybe mistakes were made under time pressure of required March spuddings; but I can't say they were not justified, and expect some lessons have been learned. Saying, by the way, that at the June 24 update, Hession just screamed safety first and gave no substantive information about the problems and delays being experienced is a false statement, although I did not like the way he presented it. Some talk like Hession is on the rigs doing the drilling. They are depending on contract drillers and experts from such as Weatherford and Schlumberger. Regarding the short-term pps, when the market and energy stocks are going down and the stock is being manipulated, and management has no final material news to provide, what exactly are they supposed to do, other than focusing on and working diligently to achieve their business goals and working to attract new coverage and investors, all of which I feel confident they are doing. On the other hand, what good, or what harm, can all this constant repetitive complaining and whining do, essentially from perpetrators in no position to know exactly what is going on. P.S.: IMHO, the claim that the refinery and distribution business would be a substantial enough business for the Company and the stock to fall back on in the event of failure of resource monetization and exploration is ridiculous. That capital is best allocated now, when a good buyer is available, to take full advantage of the opportunities the Company now has for resource monetization and exploration, and help ensure and maximize its success as an E&P company. Any investors not here for that kind of investment and ride, and that kind of potential, or who have little confidence in IOC's success as that, really need to move on and find something more appropriate for them, IMHO. Okay, I've said my piece now, and I'm here with the target on my chest, although not pink, today. Have at it!

Getit

Point taken about the thread - perhaps I or someone should have made a new thread: "MH after one year."  He was appointed on July 11, 2013.

But I do dispute several comments in your post and feel it worth making follow-on comments on the Board:

1. On the June 24 update, MH did indeed scream safety first.  Please review his prepared comments - first sentence '....safety will ALWAYS be our highest priority.'  (His CAPS, not mine.) Safety comments appear twice more in his one-page comments on drilling.

My view is he is hiding behind safety, rather than explaining why they're having problems drilling WHEN THEY'VE DRILLED 9 OTHER WELLS IN THE BASIN!

It is abyssmal performance.  As many on this board are not in the industy, I though it worthwhihle to point out this fact.

2. IOC are planning and supervising operations on-site, and are NOT relying on Contract drillers and others for planning and supervision.  IOC are responsible - this is a fact of how oilfield operations are conducted.  There are contractors on the rig, of course, but ultimate responsibility is IOCs.

And if they got lousy rigs, isn't that IOC's fault for accepting those rigs? (Answer: yes.) They certainly would have done rig inspections prior to contracting.

3. On the refinery and distribution business, sure appears the market did not like our sale - straight down from $64 and change to $59+.  Is this pps swoon related to the refinery sale?  Dunno, but the timing sure matches.

And where was this sale outlined as part of our strategy? As late as April 14 strategy was stabilize/monetize (development)/secure - no headsup about refocussing on only E&P.  Slide 14 says NOTHING about possible sale.

I think the pps swoon is in part the market saying 'where the heck did this come from, and what next?'  Where is the predictability?

4. Whiners? Not hardly.  I've posted once on this issue and presented facts (mostly.)  I thought the purpose of the message board was to share information and views, positive OR NEGATIVE.  Maybe I'm wrong.

5. I truly would like to move on but am not ready to take my 20% haircut yet - getting close with MH's performance, but as others note there is long-term (3+ years?) upside.  Its very painful, however, to have NO substantive updates and  then things like the refinery sale happen out of the blue.

Poor management performance is all I can say.  And terrible communications.  Someone needs to tall MH he's not working at Woodside anymore, and updates are appropriate for a small, now no-revenue company.

GLTAL

[Indoreservoir]

from April 14 Investor Presentation

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Dr. Michael Hession

THE PATH TO WORLD CLASS

"Our vision is to be a world-class company developing world-class resources with world-class people who have a passion for working together, doing good work and making a difference.

In 2014, we entered into a new chapter of InterOil’s story by choosing Total of France to be our partner to develop the Elk-Antelope gas field as a multi-billion- dollar LNG project for Papua New Guinea.

This major project – and our exploration portfolio and oil refinery and distribution businesses – positions InterOil among the front rank of Asian energy companies.

Our strategy is simple. It has three horizons which we work simultaneously.

Horizon One is focused on operating growth: running an efficient and financially stable existing business by ensuring we have capital to support investment, by reducing costs, by building organisational capability, and by having best practice processes.

Horizon Two is focused on developing growth: particularly by monetising our gas resources through partnerships with world-class operators to develop our gas and to leverage relationships that create value across exploration, development and operations.

Horizon Three...."

2 months later: Surprise, Surprise - Horizon One is gone.  What next?

[Getitrt2]

This is disturbingly unbelievable. Pet starts a thread about the substance of current and future exploration, and I address a question to him about oil as a target, including a quote from Raymond James about that, which happened to have the word "patient" in it. Suddenly, totally ignoring the substance of the thread, whiners come out in droves and completely take over the thread, turning it into ANOTHER repetitious whiners' thread! I'm beginning to wonder whether people like Pet, Palm, Tree, Sam, etc., and I should just stop posting anything until we have material news. I'm not trying to place blame, but I can't help thinking having supposed shareholders constantly whining and criticizing and complaining about supposed negatives and failings of the Company and management, past, present, and future, can't be helping the stock and may be hurting it, kind of like the old saying, cutting off your nose to spite your face. And they really have nothing new. In spite of all the problems and delays (past and present) repeatedly being complained about and beaten to death, justly and unjustly, there is no doubt in my mind that IOC is by far in the best condition and position for the future that it has ever been in, not the stock, but the Company, which eventually will be reflected in the stock; and I feel sure new management should get most of the credit for that, given the resources that were found so, so many years ago. Does anyone really believe, in hindsight, IOC was in a good position with Exxon a year ago with competitors walking away? Did new management screw it up, or save the Company and create a better future for it? I strongly suspect the latter. How can people talk like IOC or others in PNG have not had significant problems and delays and failures with drilling, going all the way back to at least the 1950s? They almost lost and were unable to finish Elk 1, albeit a lesser discovery. They stepped out too far with Elk 2 and got nothing. Have people forgotten, the ones that were here, the interminable problems and delays with Antelope? Does no one think OSH, with better financing, and others in PNG have not had many problems and delays? How about OSH's apparent fiasco offshore in the Gulf? I would bet shareholders of other companies have not been counting the days and constantly complaining and whining on line. Bottom line, IOC has had enormous exploration success in PNG, on a shoestring, where others, including majors, have missed out or failed. I am hearing, by the way, that Rigs 2 and 3 are so old and inefficient that they will be replacing them after the current wells. Maybe that has something to do with the problems and delays, and thanks to current management, they have the capability to do that. Previous management was never even able to get in a position to use Rig 3; this is the first experience with it, at Wahoo, with by far the worst problems. I'm not trying to make excuses and not saying I'm not frustrated with the erroneous target dates and delays, and the communications, and maybe mistakes were made under time pressure of required March spuddings; but I can't say they were not justified, and expect some lessons have been learned. Saying, by the way, that at the June 24 update, Hession just screamed safety first and gave no substantive information about the problems and delays being experienced is a false statement, although I did not like the way he presented it. Some talk like Hession is on the rigs doing the drilling. They are depending on contract drillers and experts from such as Weatherford and Schlumberger. Regarding the short-term pps, when the market and energy stocks are going down and the stock is being manipulated, and management has no final material news to provide, what exactly are they supposed to do, other than focusing on and working diligently to achieve their business goals and working to attract new coverage and investors, all of which I feel confident they are doing. On the other hand, what good, or what harm, can all this constant repetitive complaining and whining do, essentially from perpetrators in no position to know exactly what is going on. P.S.: IMHO, the claim that the refinery and distribution business would be a substantial enough business for the Company and the stock to fall back on in the event of failure of resource monetization and exploration is ridiculous. That capital is best allocated now, when a good buyer is available, to take full advantage of the opportunities the Company now has for resource monetization and exploration, and help ensure and maximize its success as an E&P company. Any investors not here for that kind of investment and ride, and that kind of potential, or who have little confidence in IOC's success as that, really need to move on and find something more appropriate for them, IMHO. Okay, I've said my piece now, and I'm here with the target on my chest, although not pink, today. Have at it!

Getit

Point taken about the thread - perhaps I or someone should have made a new thread: "MH after one year."  He was appointed on July 11, 2013.

But I do dispute several comments in your post and feel it worth making follow-on comments on the Board:

1. On the June 24 update, MH did indeed scream safety first.  Please review his prepared comments - first sentence '....safety will ALWAYS be our highest priority.'  (His CAPS, not mine.) Safety comments appear twice more in his one-page comments on drilling.

My view is he is hiding behind safety, rather than explaining why they're having problems drilling WHEN THEY'VE DRILLED 9 OTHER WELLS IN THE BASIN!

It is abyssmal performance.  As many on this board are not in the industy, I though it worthwhihle to point out this fact.

2. IOC are planning and supervising operations on-site, and are NOT relying on Contract drillers and others for planning and supervision.  IOC are responsible - this is a fact of how oilfield operations are conducted.  There are contractors on the rig, of course, but ultimate responsibility is IOCs.

And if they got lousy rigs, isn't that IOC's fault for accepting those rigs? (Answer: yes.) They certainly would have done rig inspections prior to contracting.

3. On the refinery and distribution business, sure appears the market did not like our sale - straight down from $64 and change to $59+.  Is this pps swoon related to the refinery sale?  Dunno, but the timing sure matches.

And where was this sale outlined as part of our strategy? As late as April 14 strategy was stabilize/monetize (development)/secure - no headsup about refocussing on only E&P.  Slide 14 says NOTHING about possible sale.

I think the pps swoon is in part the market saying 'where the heck did this come from, and what next?'  Where is the predictability?

4. Whiners? Not hardly.  I've posted once on this issue and presented facts (mostly.)  I thought the purpose of the message board was to share information and views, positive OR NEGATIVE.  Maybe I'm wrong.

5. I truly would like to move on but am not ready to take my 20% haircut yet - getting close with MH's performance, but as others note there is long-term (3+ years?) upside.  Its very painful, however, to have NO substantive updates and  then things like the refinery sale happen out of the blue.

Poor management performance is all I can say.  And terrible communications.  Someone needs to tall MH he's not working at Woodside anymore, and updates are appropriate for a small, now no-revenue company.

GLTAL

Indo, I appreciate your apparent experience at some level in the industry and welcome any such experience on the Board, and you are not among the worst of the repetitive whiners imo.  However, I do dispute some of your disputes.

1.  It disappoints and angers me for someone to take something I wrote out of context and redefine and misstate it, and you did that here.  It gives me the impression of at best carelessness or at worst dishonesty or incompetence, as you accuse Hession of.  I did NOT say, "Hession did not scream safety first."  I said, quote, "Saying, by the way, that at the June 24 update, Hession JUST screamed safety first AND gave no substantive information about the problems and delays being experienced is a false statement."  He did NOT JUST do that, and he DID make various specific comments about why they were having problems, whether you think they were sufficient or not.  Reread the transcript.  If you want to express the opinion those are not real and he's "hiding behind safety", that's fine; but do not misstate what I said.  Furthermore, Hession and his team have NOT "DRILLED 9 OTHER WELLS IN THE BASIN"; THAT IS FALSE, THEY'VE DRILLED ZERO UNTIL NOW.  You had an "abysmal performance" on this dispute item.

2.  Obviously, "ultimate responsibility" for the wells belongs to management, which I would say are taking responsibility, but I seriously doubt they are working as drilling bosses or supervisors on three simultaneous 24/7 operations at different locations in PNG, and not everything in new prospects exploration drilling can be predicted or timed, with shared reliance on others for resolving problems.  This management did not "accept" rigs 2 and 3 from "contractors" and had never used them before.  They were owned by and inherited from IOC and what they had to use by lease-related deadlines.  In fact, IOC had never used RIG 3, which is at Wahoo, period.  I can't say no one has screwed up on anything, but you also don't have enough detailed information to say everything is just excuses.  Of course, I'm sure you could have done better in the same circumstances.

3.  I would say you are out of your field on this one and dead wrong.  The stock was up $1.06 with the market down the day of the sale announcement, and trying to suggest the decline from the $64 price after that to now was caused by the sale is ridiculous.  Public companies do not normally discuss or "announce" full or partial acquisitions before they are final and formally announced.  They also are not usually "predicted" by investors, even if there has been discussion of such possibilities.  That's why they are usually accompanied by significant price changes;  ever notice that?  This sale was not at the level of an overall strategy for the Company, and it would not have been wise or even appropriate to show it as a "strategy" or a component thereof, especially without knowing it was practical or even possible with an appropriate buyer at a good price.  However, I certainly regard it as fitting in well with the strategies of monetizing our resources and securing our future through successful exploration and profitable growth, as I indicated above.

4.  I have no problem with your view of the message board as stated.

5.  I think there is also significant shorter-term upside than your 3+ years.  I would also like more and better updates, but I think claiming "NO substantive updates" is inaccurate.  Your conclusion of "poor management performance" is certainly your right but subjective in large part.  I say it's a HUGE improvement, and am very glad and thankful to have them at this point.

[Getitrt2]

from April 14 Investor Presentation

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO

Dr. Michael Hession

THE PATH TO WORLD CLASS

"Our vision is to be a world-class company developing world-class resources with world-class people who have a passion for working together, doing good work and making a difference.

In 2014, we entered into a new chapter of InterOil’s story by choosing Total of France to be our partner to develop the Elk-Antelope gas field as a multi-billion- dollar LNG project for Papua New Guinea.

This major project – and our exploration portfolio and oil refinery and distribution businesses – positions InterOil among the front rank of Asian energy companies.

Our strategy is simple. It has three horizons which we work simultaneously.

Horizon One is focused on operating growth: running an efficient and financially stable existing business by ensuring we have capital to support investment, by reducing costs, by building organisational capability, and by having best practice processes.

Horizon Two is focused on developing growth: particularly by monetising our gas resources through partnerships with world-class operators to develop our gas and to leverage relationships that create value across exploration, development and operations.

Horizon Three...."

2 months later: Surprise, Surprise - Horizon One is gone.  What next?

WRONG.  Horizon One can still be there, applicable to the remaining business and operations as stated without changing a single word.

[Palm]

This is disturbingly unbelievable. Pet starts a thread about the substance of current and future exploration, and I address a question to him about oil as a target, including a quote from Raymond James about that, which happened to have the word "patient" in it. Suddenly, totally ignoring the substance of the thread, whiners come out in droves and completely take over the thread, turning it into ANOTHER repetitious whiners' thread! I'm beginning to wonder whether people like Pet, Palm, Tree, Sam, etc., and I should just stop posting anything until we have material news. I'm not trying to place blame, but I can't help thinking having supposed shareholders constantly whining and criticizing and complaining about supposed negatives and failings of the Company and management, past, present, and future, can't be helping the stock and may be hurting it, kind of like the old saying, cutting off your nose to spite your face. And they really have nothing new. In spite of all the problems and delays (past and present) repeatedly being complained about and beaten to death, justly and unjustly, there is no doubt in my mind that IOC is by far in the best condition and position for the future that it has ever been in, not the stock, but the Company, which eventually will be reflected in the stock; and I feel sure new management should get most of the credit for that, given the resources that were found so, so many years ago. Does anyone really believe, in hindsight, IOC was in a good position with Exxon a year ago with competitors walking away? Did new management screw it up, or save the Company and create a better future for it? I strongly suspect the latter. How can people talk like IOC or others in PNG have not had significant problems and delays and failures with drilling, going all the way back to at least the 1950s? They almost lost and were unable to finish Elk 1, albeit a lesser discovery. They stepped out too far with Elk 2 and got nothing. Have people forgotten, the ones that were here, the interminable problems and delays with Antelope? Does no one think OSH, with better financing, and others in PNG have not had many problems and delays? How about OSH's apparent fiasco offshore in the Gulf? I would bet shareholders of other companies have not been counting the days and constantly complaining and whining on line. Bottom line, IOC has had enormous exploration success in PNG, on a shoestring, where others, including majors, have missed out or failed. I am hearing, by the way, that Rigs 2 and 3 are so old and inefficient that they will be replacing them after the current wells. Maybe that has something to do with the problems and delays, and thanks to current management, they have the capability to do that. Previous management was never even able to get in a position to use Rig 3; this is the first experience with it, at Wahoo, with by far the worst problems. I'm not trying to make excuses and not saying I'm not frustrated with the erroneous target dates and delays, and the communications, and maybe mistakes were made under time pressure of required March spuddings; but I can't say they were not justified, and expect some lessons have been learned. Saying, by the way, that at the June 24 update, Hession just screamed safety first and gave no substantive information about the problems and delays being experienced is a false statement, although I did not like the way he presented it. Some talk like Hession is on the rigs doing the drilling. They are depending on contract drillers and experts from such as Weatherford and Schlumberger. Regarding the short-term pps, when the market and energy stocks are going down and the stock is being manipulated, and management has no final material news to provide, what exactly are they supposed to do, other than focusing on and working diligently to achieve their business goals and working to attract new coverage and investors, all of which I feel confident they are doing. On the other hand, what good, or what harm, can all this constant repetitive complaining and whining do, essentially from perpetrators in no position to know exactly what is going on. P.S.: IMHO, the claim that the refinery and distribution business would be a substantial enough business for the Company and the stock to fall back on in the event of failure of resource monetization and exploration is ridiculous. That capital is best allocated now, when a good buyer is available, to take full advantage of the opportunities the Company now has for resource monetization and exploration, and help ensure and maximize its success as an E&P company. Any investors not here for that kind of investment and ride, and that kind of potential, or who have little confidence in IOC's success as that, really need to move on and find something more appropriate for them, IMHO. Okay, I've said my piece now, and I'm here with the target on my chest, although not pink, today. Have at it!

Getit

Point taken about the thread - perhaps I or someone should have made a new thread: "MH after one year."  He was appointed on July 11, 2013.

But I do dispute several comments in your post and feel it worth making follow-on comments on the Board:

1. On the June 24 update, MH did indeed scream safety first.  Please review his prepared comments - first sentence '....safety will ALWAYS be our highest priority.'  (His CAPS, not mine.) Safety comments appear twice more in his one-page comments on drilling.

My view is he is hiding behind safety, rather than explaining why they're having problems drilling WHEN THEY'VE DRILLED 9 OTHER WELLS IN THE BASIN!

It is abyssmal performance.  As many on this board are not in the industy, I though it worthwhihle to point out this fact.

2. IOC are planning and supervising operations on-site, and are NOT relying on Contract drillers and others for planning and supervision.  IOC are responsible - this is a fact of how oilfield operations are conducted.  There are contractors on the rig, of course, but ultimate responsibility is IOCs.

And if they got lousy rigs, isn't that IOC's fault for accepting those rigs? (Answer: yes.) They certainly would have done rig inspections prior to contracting.

3. On the refinery and distribution business, sure appears the market did not like our sale - straight down from $64 and change to $59+.  Is this pps swoon related to the refinery sale?  Dunno, but the timing sure matches.

And where was this sale outlined as part of our strategy? As late as April 14 strategy was stabilize/monetize (development)/secure - no headsup about refocussing on only E&P.  Slide 14 says NOTHING about possible sale.

I think the pps swoon is in part the market saying 'where the heck did this come from, and what next?'  Where is the predictability?

4. Whiners? Not hardly.  I've posted once on this issue and presented facts (mostly.)  I thought the purpose of the message board was to share information and views, positive OR NEGATIVE.  Maybe I'm wrong.

5. I truly would like to move on but am not ready to take my 20% haircut yet - getting close with MH's performance, but as others note there is long-term (3+ years?) upside.  Its very painful, however, to have NO substantive updates and  then things like the refinery sale happen out of the blue.

Poor management performance is all I can say.  And terrible communications.  Someone needs to tall MH he's not working at Woodside anymore, and updates are appropriate for a small, now no-revenue company.

GLTAL

Indo, I appreciate your apparent experience at some level in the industry and welcome any such experience on the Board, and you are not among the worst of the repetitive whiners imo.  However, I do dispute some of your disputes.

1.  It disappoints and angers me for someone to take something I wrote out of context and redefine and misstate it, and you did that here.  It gives me the impression of at best carelessness or at worst dishonesty or  incompetence, as you accuse Hession of.  I did NOT say, "Hession did not scream safety first."  I said, quote, "Saying, by the way, that at the June 24 update, Hession JUST screamed safety first AND gave no substantive information about the problems and delays being experienced is a false statement."  He did NOT JUST do that, and he DID make various specific comments about why they were having problems, whether you think they were sufficient or not.  Reread the transcript.  If you want to express the opinion those are not real and he's "hiding behind safety", that's fine; but do not misstate what I said.  Furthermore, Hession and his team have NOT "DRILLED 9 OTHER WELLS IN THE BASIN"; THAT IS FALSE, THEY'VE DRILLED ZERO UNTIL NOW.  You had an "abysmal performance" on this dispute item.

2.  Obviously, "ultimate responsibility" for the wells belongs to management, which I would say are taking responsibility, but I seriously doubt they are working as drilling bosses or supervisors on three simultaneous 24/7 operations at different locations in PNG, and not everything in new prospects exploration drilling can be predicted or timed, with shared reliance on others for resolving problems.  This management did not "accept" rigs 2 and 3 from "contractors" and had never used them before.  They were owned by and inherited from IOC and what they had to use by lease-related deadlines.  In fact, IOC had never used RIG 3, which is at Wahoo, period.  I can't say no one has screwed up on anything, but you also don't have enough detailed information to say everything is just excuses.  Of course, I'm sure you could have done better in the same circumstances.

3.  I would say you are out of your field on this one and dead wrong.  The stock was up $1.06 with the market down the day of the sale announcement, and trying to suggest the decline from the $64 price after that to now was caused by the sale is ridiculous.  Public companies do not normally discuss or "announce" full or partial acquisitions before they are final and formally announced.  They also are not usually "predicted" by investors, even if there has been discussion of such possibilities.  That's why they are usually accompanied by significant price changes;  ever notice that?  This sale was not at the level of an overall strategy for the Company, and it would not have been wise or even appropriate to show it as a "strategy" or a component thereof, especially without knowing it was practical or even possible with an appropriate buyer at a good price.  However, I certainly regard it as fitting in well with the strategies of monetizing our resources and securing our future through successful exploration and profitable growth, as I indicated above.

4.  I have no problem with your view of the message board as stated.

5.  I think there is also significant shorter-term upside than your 3+ years.  I would also like more and better updates, but I think claiming "NO substantive updates" is inaccurate.  Your conclusion of "poor management performance" is certainly your right but subjective in large part.  I say it's a HUGE improvement, and am very glad and thankful to have them at this point.

Excellent comments Getit.