Hi FSM8, Just tried to be informative and quoted you own MD and...

Hi FSM8,
Just tried to be informative and quoted you own MD and all was IMO.
Your post deserve a reply with comments to clarify.
I am retired, was in Engineering and do understand numbers and this all IMO.
We do not have to guess by comparing numbers as it is an exact science and on this point, I fully agree with you, it is related to size and commerciality. From what I am aware in the oil industry a field is considered commercial from about 200 mmboe and SNE at the present as 641 mmboe and I know there are other parameters such as oil quality, ease of extraction, etc. which all or most are very positive for SNE.
So it easily pass this metric, regarding size it is rumoured to be an elephant which only further drillings will reveal and confirm. As a geologist, I am surprised that you do not understand the difference between a tiny non-commercial, small or a large commercial discovery not yet declared. It is rumoured that some parties are delaying the statement of commerciality and how would you explain that Woodside is financing the operator for the planning for a Standalone FPSO and talking about CAPEX, OPEX, etc. if it was a non commercial discovery?
FSM8 it is not unusual for posters to come with arguments to portray or try to paint a picture for others and each push their own barrow, I am not sure what is your objective, but rest assured that I will only post information from company announcements and reliable sources.

With regard to Gabon, I am not familiar with it, but from reading, they are drilling as they have just made a find, years behind SNE as the finds date back to 2014. Hopefully for Woodside, Petronas does not take as long as the SNE operator to declare commerciality!

As for "minor parties definition of discovery is very different to that of majors" FAR is for sure a minor but easily bat above its own weight! As for Woodside they are not a major by any means. List from Google bellow,

Country Company name Revenue 2015,

(US$ billion)Saudi Aramco455.49Sinopec448.00China National Petroleum Corporation428.62PetroChina367.982Exxon Mobil268.9 Royal Dutch Shell265Kuwait Petroleum Corporation251.94BP222.8Total SA212Lukoil144.17Eni131.82Valero Energy130.84Petrobras130.00*Chevron Corporation129.9PDVSA128.44Pemex117.50National Iranian Oil Company110.00**Gazprom106.3Petronas100.74China National Offshore Oil98.53Marathon Petroleum97.81PTT93.55Rosneft91.72JX Holdings90.67Engie89.64Statoil82.48Indian Oil Corporation81.55Sonatrach76.10**Reliance Industries73.10Pertamina70.65Conoco Phillips55.52GS Caltex50.26Enterprise Products47.95Repsol47.29Centrica45.29Bharat Petroleum43.46OMV Group43.09SOCAR39.70Idemitsu Kosan38.58Hindustan Petroleum37.85PKN Orlen36.1Schlumberger35.47Suncor Energy34.66Hellenic Petroleum31.28Motor Oil Hellas28.98Ecopetrol26.99CEPSA26.90ONGC24.00

Hoops, no Woodside in this list but many that I have never heard of before! This said, I see Woodside as a very good Australian Oil and Gas Company but a mid size by world scale.

It is also interesting that you mention the statement "Fan South as disappointing", as another point of view is that the SNE JV kept the information for themself so as to have a better chance to negotiate for the blocks in Gambia directly next to Fan South. And why wouldn't they, they have paid for the drill and this include Woodside! IMO, maybe Woodside would like to duplicate what the junior FAR as achieved with A2 and A5. So until the numbers are officially released for Fan South, I would take any comments about what is really there with a grain of salt!

FSM8, here for your information few more numbers about oil find discoveries since 2012,
I am not sure if they have been or not declared commercial as yet?

Liza-Payara, EXXON, Guyana, ~1780 mmboe
Iara Entorno, PETROBRAS, Brazil, ~1750 mmboe
Tulimaniq, CAELUS, Alaska USA, ~1740 mmboe
Carcara, STATOIL, Brazil, ~990 mmboe
Owowo, EXXON, Nigeria, ~745 mmboe
SNE, CAIRN, Senegal, ~641 mmboe
Anchor, CHEVRON, Mexico, ~495 mmboe
North Platte, COBALT, Mexico, ~495 mmboe
Orca, COBALT, Angola, ~ 395 mmboe
Itapu, PETROBRAS, Brazil, ~395 mmboe
Itapu Surplus, PETROBRAS, Brazil, ~300 mmboe
Snoek, EXXON, Guyana, EXXON, Guyana, ~300 mmboe
Bay du Nord, STATOIL, Guyana, ~300 mmboe

Note, no discovery in Gabon either in this list!

Thanks to have given me the opportunity of reply, and to finish, I would like to wish you all a happy and very prosperous shares investing future.