IMO SA can’t proceed to far down the JV path without a finalized CoW. They should and probably are in preliminary discussion with major(s), however until they know the CoW terms, it would be quite risky to formalize any kind of JV. Even if they have a good idea of what the percentages will probably be, formalizing a JV prior to the CoW would definitely impact CoW negotiations. This in turn could potentially put SA in a bad situation. IMHO SA is being quite prudent by not doing anything that can impact the CoW negotiations negatively (such as increased drilling activity, public JV discussions, etc.). It seems to me that right now they are in a very delicate stage, however when the CoWs are finalized, well then all bets are off!

GLTA

joe