RE:At No Point Should Bonterra Ever Pay A Dividend I get alot of your points and ability to pay divvy is very situational but is one drawback to share buyback some of these companies have done in that most companies buyback when commodity prices are rolling and share prices are high. Obe could have bought back way more shares if they waited until oil prices were lower which was obvious for awhile from the China data.
paying down debt should be number 1 priority for all of these small junior energy's.
and lower debt levels allow a company to be better able to do mergers in the down turn part of the price cycle.
Long term value can be created if a company is smart and does buys in cheap.
look at whitecaps buy of torc and nal resources...some of wcp awesome glaucy wells are on old nal land. Ipco did smart buys.
If Bne cardy assets were separated out and merger with nearby land it could be divy paying if company wasn't carrying too much debt.