RE:RE:RE:RE:May Corporate Presentation Sorry Hound, I don't look at this board everyday these days.
Not sure what you might be thinking of with Tullow those few years ago, but the PSC is the Production Sharing Contract that AOI held before Tullow farmed in. The assignment of an interest to Tullow and their assumption of operatorship under the PSC would have been approved by the govt, so maybe that's what you're thinking of. The PSC grants an exclusive right to the contractor parties to explore for oil and gas in the area, and in the case of a commercial discovery, to develop and produce it. There would not be another separate production license for the same area held by anyone else.
In order to bring a discovery on to production under the PSC, the contractor will first propose for approval by the govt an appraisal plan designed to prove commerciality. These current EWTs may be part of the approved or an amended appraisal plan. If the appraisal work proves that it will be worth the tremendous investment to develop the fields, the contractor will declare commerciality. This triggers an obligation to submit a development plan which will include all the development wells, pipes, facilities etc. and a proposed point in time during the implementation of the DP at which first production will commence. After the govt approves the DP the contractor can conduct the development work, and a production license is typically issued once the govt is satisfied that the development work has been done in accordance with the approved DP. Once on production under the approved DP and a production license, the contractor will have the right to a share of production as set out in the PSC. Note that a PSC does not grant any ownership to oil in the ground but only the right to take a share of oil produced in accordance with all the terms of the PSC.