Valid points, but you don't appear to be taking into account the...

Valid points, but you don't appear to be taking into account the financing (presumably debt) that MEL is to obtain by March. I now see this as a safety net adopted by MEL - i.e if financing can be obtained the deal goes ahead with ELK related expenditure covered by the financing. If financing cannot be obtained then the deal does not proceed. In effect the only really risky financial side of things relates to the 2.5 million loan if financing cannot be obtained and MEL want their money back.

I've done some back of the envelope calculations based on the Grieve research report, current oil price and exchange rate and have revenue of a bit over 155 million - an average of around 7.8 million over 20 years. Without factoring in higher levels of revenue in the early years this is a significant potential revenue stream which should not need much more out of pocket expenditure.

I'd still like some more information, but I can't see much happening in the Northern Rivers until the NSW government gets everything sorted - which ultimately means 2016+. There aren't many opportunities out there which are close to production, need cash and don't require significant extra capital expenditure.

The more that I read, the calmer I am about this.