From CFO Bednar ...Compadres!
I posted this a few minutes ago at smartinvestor.ca ...
I called Jason Bednar early in the afternoon and he called back a few hours later. My questions were largely transport oriented.
CFO Bednar succinctly answered the pipeline question. "Can't do it because the oil has a parafin problem ... you'd end up with the world's biggest candle!" Even with the parafin they receive about 90% of the world price for the type of oil they produce.
Several points were noted by Mr. Bednar:
- trucking though 270 kms long is not onerous cost-wise ... costs are $2.62 per bbl. Remember I had the CFO on the line ... not 'about 2.60' but "$2.62"!!
- the NR notes that of the 6000 bopd net to Pan Orient, 3300-3600 is deliverable at the moment. In a matter of weeks that will increase to 4200 bopd or so...
- the Thai's are "very motivated" on the transportation side of things. They want the oil!! The nation's oil deficit is approx. 500,000 bopd and they want every drop of oil they can get produced within-country. Thus these transport problemas are real, but generally transitory.
- Bednar assured me that all transportation options are reviewed regularly.
- I forget at which threshold (10K bopd?? .. sorry) but once production reaches this threshold level a railroad option opens. The rail terminal is approx. 40-km away versus the 270 km one-way haul right now.
- finally, there is LOTS of refinery capacity available for their production.
I asked ... did they have ANY inkling of this scenario when took over Tiger in what ... 2005? "No way" was the answer!!
Finally ... when will a web page be available? Jason said that it should no longer than 2 weeks. He mentioned an old web page at panorient.ca ... apparently there is still a dated, but useful, presentation at this site.
I appreciated the quick call back and certainly appreciated the tone and direct answers!
Let's hope we have another great day tomorrow!
Dorinho