Just to clarify what Rick Wilkinson reported. He said that "each" of the JV partners would be paying up $20 million, but in reading Falcon's press release it appears fairly clear that the total paid by both JV's is $20 million - which is still a nice chunk of change given that Philip has reduced Falcon's burn rate.

In rereading Falcon's press release, Philip indicates that the drilling of the first 5 wells could commence in 2014 depending on permits and rig availability. If Statoil can get approvals in the Georgina Basin and drill 5 test wells inside of one year, then I would certainly hope that Origin - who has allot more clout and drilling experience in Australia than Statoil - can get the ball rolling and some results much faster than the ridiculous 3 year time limit that Philip has given them.

I fully expect to hear some sort of press release from Falcon, in the next six months, saying that this 3 year time frame was a worst case scenerio and that Philip expects the first 4 vertical wells to be complete before the end of the second year!! I can see the 5th well - being a horizontal well and associated testing on that one - taking a bit longer, but Statoil will complete 5 vertical wells inside of one year and there is no reason that Origin can't do the same given their much greater size and clout in Australia.