We all know that Harbour Energy’s eyes were firmly set on Santos...

We all know that Harbour Energy’s eyes were firmly set on Santos – thus the increased bids before Santos firmly rejected Harbour’s final offer - we also know that Harbour announced that they were on the acquisition hunt for additional gas reserves in Australia and elsewhere.

Harbour was in discussions with ENN which is Santos largest Chinese shareholder and Hony Capital who expressed an interest in being involved in a deal that allowed both to continue to have exposure to Santos assets rather than sell out for a cash offer.

Clearly Harbour have the desire plus the means and are on the acquisition hunt for gas reserves in Australia at this time.

With COI owning 40% of the largest uncontracted and undeveloped gas reserve on the East Coast (Mahalo) sharing this asset with Santos and Australia Pacific LNG – plus news to come shortly about the hole being sunk at Albany 1 and whether meaningful gas is encountered – I wonder whether Harbour just might be glancing in our direction?

Whilst Santos’s 30% share of Mahalo is only a small part of their asset base – I would have thought that Harbour must have considered and looked closely at Mahalo in order to attribute a value to Santos’s percentage.

Just a thought whilst ‘joining up the dots’ and possibly worth a mention….