Member Info for vike1

It's clearly not due to the size of the discovery. 2.17tcf is enormous. Could be the deposits are unconventional and much harder to extract. The find itself was north of Dar, so quite removed from where we're based, and further away from the much larger Ruvuma fields.

Interesting update on their supposed discovery from a couple of years ago. A big deal was made of the 2.17tcf find, largely because Dodsal put a value to it of USD8bn. Many here (me included prob) said that AEX should also be making a bigger deal of the value of its assets (and we still should!). Something about it at the time seemed off though, as if the discovery came out of nowhere and seemed too good to be true. Now it turns out, it was. The MoE says that the discovery is not economically viable, without providing details why. It's probably good news for AEX, as it's one less supply competitor in the country. https://www.dailynews.co.tz/news/2018-06-125b1f89c6e19f5

Yep, getting bought out at a cut rate price is the risk that we've been put in with such a low sp. All part of the game though. If Zubairs announced tomorrow an offer to buy us outright for 5p, and BoD supported it, I'd curse and swear, and scream about the injustices of the world. But, then I like to think I'd go and drink a bunch of overpriced bottles of wine with CrustyPete and a few others on this Board, then go on to place my bets with other companies.

Even f the BoD make a deal to sell up, I don't see how you conclude we'd lose everything. It would be a sharper short-term gain in exchange for losing out on higher long-term gain. Traders want a sale, and investors want investment. At this rate, either option to me seems better than current situation of neither/nor.

It�s not a huge surprise. TZ is more of a Shell/ Equinor play. Would like to see an Asia or Middle East player pick up the asset.

One to watch, to see who buys and pays what price. Not directly related to onshore gas, but will be an interesting gauge of investor appetite in the country https://www.reuters.com/article/us-exxon-m-a-tanzania-exclusive/exclusive-exxon-seeks-to-sell-out-of-tanzanian-gas-field-sources-idUSKCN1J31PC

I agree NR should be replaced if there is a long term vision for this company. J Fitz may be able to help there, just as a Columbus Energy NED indentified Leo Koots to take over there. The fact that the BoD is so weak circles back to my point yesterday about the urgent need to appoint more Independent Directors. All that said, there is nothing in SOLO that makes it worth more than the sum of its parts. No brand, history, magic formula that prevents it from selling assets and closing shop. With Ruvuma farmout, HH testing, and H1 IPO all happening over the next 6-12 months, we could liquidate assets and turns the lights out by this time next year. The other stuff is worthless. Ftly there�s only minimal debt so most liquidation goes to shareholders.

On a different note, this is an interesting story from the TZ M of Energy's website. It's in Swahili but essentially says that the World Bank has offered $1.4bn to TZ for development of its energy projects. That's a good sum for TZ. The agreement is due to be approved by the WB on June 18th. https://www.nishati.go.tz/wb-yatenga-dola-bilioni-1-4-kwa-ajili-ya-miradi-ya-nishati-nchini/

That's a good point re intent to do 3D on the Kiliwani/Nyuni acreage. Unftly it's a reminder of yet another activity that hasn't been undertaken yet, though I recall speaking to JB about exactly that 2 years ago at the last AGM in London. It was dirt cheap then as no one had any work to do, but of course, O&G service companies are back in business now and margins are up. JB said he was asking companies to do it for free, just to keep staff busy. I guess no one bit. Wasted opportunity.

I'll give Cassidy the benefit of the doubut, but he and his masters at Bowleven lost their jobs because they sat on a pile of cash for too long until they got pushed out by corporate raiders. The only deal they did announce, of course, was a farm-in to Ruvuma, where the conditions were so strict it didn't get regulatory approval. Not exactly Action Jackson.

I consider the next 6-18 months to be short-term, esp in Tanzania. Orca is sitting on a massive quantity of underutilised supply, and are desparately trying to feed to market. All it takes there is a flick of the switch. Assuming they can get over their internal squabbles with Parliament. Even Mnazi Bay have some extra supply they can feed, though that gap is closing quickly if they don't undertake further drilling. We don't even know how much supply a Ruvuma EPS is capable of providing. Or what we're proposing. Is it more than what Kiliwani S could do? Are we better off getting KS1 onstream and skipping a Ruvuma EPS altogether? Here's another question we don't have answers to: what does the company mean by an EPS?? We're proposing to build a pipeline from 3 wells to the processing plant then drilling/adding more as demand warrants. Is that an EPS or just a PS? We don't actually know because the company won't tell us.

Agreed, esp re Mr Leblanc. Between the cock-up of the NT2 drill and total lack of progress at Kiliwani, he hasn't exactly endeared himself to me, or exemplified much in the way of operational excellence

TPDC may actually be ok with it. The country doesn't have an immediate need for mega quantities of gas that Ruvuma can provide, though they do want some extra output, which Kiliwani can provide (20-30mmscf/d?). The intention to develop Ruvuma is of course there, but if the MoE wants that for future development, let's get on with other things. Isn't Plan A, but is a reasonable Plan B. And hopefully we won't see a 'perfect storm' as that has clear negative connotations. Not sure what the positive version of it is, though I agree that IS what we are all hoping for.

If we can't get Dev Licence signed until after CH1 drill, I'd rather put that on hold and focus on Kiliwani. An equity raise at these prices is way too bloody expensive. Get revenues back up, even if it means drilling K South with Caroil 2. Then can use a mix of internal cash flow and dubt (at much cheaper rates!) to fund Ruvuma appraisal and development. Not what the big swingers want to hear, but a better long-term approach imo.

Maybe we'll get lucky and the markets will stay closed until news is ready!

This one in the Times today too, which is a little less gracious towards 'Mr Laughing Gas' himself. Oh, and our dear 'NED' Don Strang gets a kick in the ribs too. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/lenigas-and-oil-make-so-much-hot-air-3lncjzs6f

Would like to see an update on Kiliwani as well. SOLO pitched it as big news, yet AEX stuffed in midway through their ARA. If they have the equipment in country, and is a relatively common workover, approval should be straightforward (and comes from TPDC, which is better than MoE). Let's get going FFS!

Would need to see a little more than the signing of a rig. You see those announcement every day and doesn't do much for the sp. Mind you, with this share so desperate for news, even a minor RNS could cause excitement. If I were the BoD, I'd want to attend the AGM with a little more substance to discuss than a rig. And if we end up signing another Caroil rig, there'll be hell to pay.

I think the issue is how we got ourselves into this mess, and what can we do to improve things going forward. It doesn�t take much analysis to see that the structure of the investment vehicle and and investment making process can be greatly improved. As managers of its investors� capital, the BoD should be keen to listen to, and duly consider the ideas put forward.

For me a major issue is governance of the BoD. Once Strang steps down there will be 3 Directors, none of whom are independent. This is absurd and dangerous. The company has committed to adding an NED (which they have to do by law), but this is still insufficient. It makes no sense having an even number of directors, and should commit to having 5. Ideally the NEDs should outnumber insiders, but let�s first get �basic� governance before graduating to �good�. With a bare bones mgmt, the BOD IS the mgmt. And it doesn�t seem to have good judgment or network. With that governance upgrade proposal, I�d support with my 1.3m+ shares.