I agree Spiney. The wording of the announcement begs many...

I agree Spiney. The wording of the announcement begs many unanswered questions open for interpretation depending on how full or empty we view the glass. Not for the first time. And perhaps by design. Every time I re-read the announcement I flip flop between a half empty and half full glass. Obviously, the half full interpretation may be influenced by the tint of my glasses.

The half empty scenario is obvious. Seebee blank, and Nanushuk (so far) seems barely commercial and with significant water. Caveated by need for more detailed analysis, but the two Nanushuk zones are likely to have related characteristics, and the company has reported on the best bits oof Nanushuk. Drilling ahead for Torok, but unlikely to have a field of scale that we can quickly monetize to either return shareholder value or fund IW. At least that was my immediate half empty interpretation. And one that I keep flip flopping to in my mind.

The half full scenario is as you have highlighted. The ANN highlighted that oil found in the primary target and that it was within the range of commerciality (albeit the lower end). And that the forward program still had the larger part of the primary target to be intersected, as well as the deeper Torok fan play.

The timing of the announcements may not have been under their control. While a TH bought them timing flexibility in ASX, the continuous disclosure obligations of AIM likely determined the pre trading RNS yesterday. If the half full scenario plays out with the lower Nanushuk indicating commerciality further up the scale, and the Torok providing further value, then the Friday carnage on the AIM would have created a lot of needless victims. And in such a scenario, there could be some rightful criticism of the poor wording in the RNS/ANN.

My gut is that the more negative interpretation is more plausible, as the wording for the more optimistic interpretation would not have allowed such ambiguity. Surely!? Hoping that it is the more positive interpretation and an incompetently crafted and managed news release. But hope ain’t a great foundation for a strategy.

All IMO.. GLTA.