Whining about DelaysI am disappointed in delays also, but here are some facts:
- Repsol is the operator and project manager, so responsibility of delays rests with Repsol not POE.
- The reason this prospect hasn't been drilled before has to do with the fact that it was inaccessible without large capital expenditures on roads etc. If this was an easy project it would have been drilled years ago by someone other than POE.
- The oil industry is mainly outdoors, which means unpredictable things like weather, forest fires etc really affect your ability to work efficiently.
- We have two choices as investors - we can either get the most up to date predictions of schedule based on the best information POE has at the time (like POE is currently doing) or we can wait until they are 100% certain of the spud date and wait patiently for months on end for them to finally release information.
Personally, I like the updates POE gives, but I understand they are giving these updates based on imperfect information. Also POE has performed well in Thailand where they are operator - the main delay seems to be waiting on regulatory approval.