"It seems to come up alot that NOT is going to get into a joint venture with, BMK, FNC,PRB etc. I have listened to the various presentation and I am not convinced this is what Mr Nemis is talking about. In My Humble Opinion I believe he is talking about joint venturing the properties that NOT has staked. To be honest I don't think a major cares about how many companies they have to buy. If the company has the goods they will pay the price to buy the resource."

I agree with you largely on your final point, but I think, given the size of the area, that if properties are organized into one cohesive commercial unit, that the majors will likely go for the biggest fish first and keep their eye on the smaller ones for later. So it would perhaps be something more of a wait for those not involved in the "big deal".... or the others could be picked up by competing majors. Time will tell.