What's changed?

[Resourcearb]

Nothing other than InterOil potentially having decided not to renew exclusivity to Exxon while negotiations "remain ongoing".  What does it mean?  It means that InterOil has received other bids and will close the deal with Exxon on a nonexclusive basis (unless it's acquired by Shell).  Cooler heads will prevail and investors will soon realize that the stock should be up significantly on this report, not down.

[Petro2458]

Your wrong. 2 sides to this.

[jft310]

Blair Price is on the take . Not hard to figure really. This is not a bad thing an additional player in the game

[Resourcearb]

Your wrong. 2 sides to this.

There is only one side to this in my opinion. InterOil has a competing bid from Shell and it's being leveraged to accelerate negotiations with Exxon.  The stock is down because news services incorrectly picked up "it is dead" as the deal rather than exclusivity.  It's exclusivity that's dead while the negotiations continue.  InterOil has voluntarily killed the exclusivity, which can only be positive.  I have strong evidence that Shell submitted a bid very recently.  The company has confirmed continued negotiations with Exxon today, both in the article and on calls.

[ltinvest]

While I am still seeking confirmation this story is true, I find it interesting for a couple reasons. First, its why you don't negotiate in public. I wish IOC would have never issued that press release annoucing "exlusive negotiations." There are times in negotiations you have to play hard ball......especially when you are about to conclude a deal. If this is a negotiating tactic, it shouldnt be public. Secondly, IOC would not end "exclusive" negotiations unless there was a pretty compelling reason to do so. Dr. Hession has plenty of perspective on what deal terms should look like. If Exxon was offering the best terms IOC could get, they would have already agreed to a deal.

[Getitrt2]

lt, they HAVE "agreed to a deal", as announced May 24. Since then, they have been negotiating and working on all the final details of a huge, multi-billion dollar binding contract, a voluminous and time-consuming process, and possibly on expanding that agreement into a larger "strategic partner" deal. If the latter, in accordance with Hession's comments in the conference call, that may be why it is not complete yet, or may have given a competitor another opportunity. We are the closest ever, and I would say the shorts have reason to be more desperate than ever before.