Good evening Cubane. I would not call CNE a major, after spiffing away most of the Indian Gov refund of tax on divi and share buyback with no resultant impact on SP. It's just an Egyptian gas producer now.
Noble was bought out by Chevron, which has extensive interests in Argentina, so thats them out of the frame.
Ralph says "They wont have any income from Shenandoah for years. Where will they get the money from for SL?" Income from Shenandoah will commence in just over 2 years from now. It is bankable now for development debt. The money will come from Brooklyn, the Tel Aviv of the west.
Drilling of subsea production wells is expected to begin in the second half of 2022, with the first oil from the Shenandoah field anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Back when Britain was Great, a tanker could be converted to a FPSO in a year in the Tyne yards, thinking of the Uisge Gorm. Now its all new builds in the Far East, probably a lot cheaper, but get in the queue.
Hard to see how out of court settlememt is possible after all court proceedings are completed. OOC is to stop the case going to court in the first place as the Duke of York will explain over a pizza, no coubt.
There is no dividend tax on a share buyback. That attracts II's who want to release some cash for other purposes . PIs would rather have a dividend to spend after tax, or simply re-invest it.