Interesting..

1. The shorts are covering. The count is down really substantially, down 1,434,300 shares to 4,557,700 vs. 5,992,000. This is pretty remarkable as the period (second half of July) saw a rather sharp rise in the stock price, which is usually used to short more, not to cover.
2. InterOil might sell a smaller stake in the resource, because of the huge increase in resource size (Bloomberg)
3. InterOil gets a $25 loan from Clarion Finanz
4. PM Duma on Petromin’s partipation and licenses (see below)

We think probably the best conclusions we can draw from these facts are the following by “stixx”:

• All of the shorts who have been anticipating an equity offering may be inclined to cover, as the company didn’t use its recent stock strength to dilute itself with an equity offering and decided instead to accept a bridge loan to fund increased exploration activity until it receives cash payments from strategic partners for the LNG. This is a clear indication that the company considers its stock to be undervalued.

PM Duma:

• The Minister for Petroleum and Energy William Duma has congratulated Interoil and Mitsui Corporation for entering into a definitive agreement for the purpose of developing the condensate resource of the Elk/Antelope LNG project. Mr Duma said the successful implementation of the Condensate Stripping Project (CSP) would bring early financial returns to the partners as well as the State, through its nominee, Petromin PNG Holdings Limited.
• Mr Duma said as the commercial vehicle of the State, Petromin had taken a strategic investment decision to farm-in on the exploration program of the Elk/Antelope gas field. The funds invested so far in the exploration of the test wells will be used to offset the sunk costs when Petromin formally joins the project at the granting of the Petroleum Development Licence (PDL) as the State nominee in both the CSP and the LNG development phases.
• He said the Mitsui Corporation is one of Japan’s leading corporate entitles and its commitment to the CSP and the desire to further invest in the LNG portion of the project had strengthened the confidence the State had in the development of the Elk/Antelope gas field.
• “As Minister responsible for the development of the Elk/Antelope LNG project, I want to assure Mitsui Corporation and the project partners that the State, through its relevant agencies, including the Department of Petroleum and Energy and the State Nominee, Petromin will work with the operators, InterOil, to deliver the CSP project in a timely manner,” Minister Duma said.