Mediterranean Oil & Gas Share Discussion Threads

[garymegson] 11/3/2014 09:57

altom, Try a mog view all bull of course ;-)


09:27 In Court today 10 March romaron

Good morning. Apologies that I couldn't do the report yesterday but I was out celebrating and I had things to do this morning. More of that later.
My intermittent note taking took second place to the theatre in front of me.
A reinvigorated BH was on first. He is similar to Carl Froch. A slow starter but strong in the final rounds. We won on a unanimous decision imo.
The real bombshell though was the announcement by the LGO barrister that they would prepare closing on Tuesday (today) and Wednesday would be for "polishing off" (my words). I then put in my notes DELAY EXPERT TESTIMONY. I'm hoping that Eagles was there and will comment as he has the legal knowledge I lack.
Our brief was strangely acquiescent and I was surprised.
One thing that made me chuckle. The insistence by LGO that John Hurst (Genel: Head of Exploration) was enthusiastic about Malta. Whenever have you met a geologist that wasn't keen as mustard? Its a given and is why they're the most popular speakers at AGM's. Still, I enjoyed confirmation.
Later we had Sergio Morandi who had an interpreter sitting beside him. The LGO side changed the brief to a Ms O'Sullivan. She was slaughtered by SM. At no time was he daunted or shaken. It really was a no contest. A Professor of Applied Seismology who had worked for companies like Shell and ENI would have a depth of understanding and experience which would have beaten Rumpole.
The interpreter was a stroke of genius. SM speaks better English than most of us (and all LGOposters) but was afforded more lenience by the judge and twisted the lawyers points better than they could. He certainly understands the meaning of "subjectivity".
Of course what really spoilt it was his unfailing charm and calmness under questioning which to a layman often seems downright rude. He was unflappable. I never doubted his performance as I once spent 9 hours in Milan in a smoke-filled room arguing with Italians (I lost). Think Machiavelli as I doubt you know my wife. There was an exclusivity agreement between MOG and Genel which SM explained was outside of the time-frame when it would have affected LGO and there was a distrust of LGO by the Maltese authorities. In the opinion of SM, NR could have asked or found out whatever he wanted just by attending OpComm meetings or visiting a data room. The case imo revolves around NR insisting he had a right to be spoon-fed and have his hand held.
I felt that no evidence had been produced to say that there was collusion between the Directors of MOG to commit a fraud and the body language of the LGO team said it all. The Genel lawyer who was there as an observer, who was obviously tight lipped, did say to me that the charge that LGO had brought was a mountain to climb and very difficult to prove. A suggestion is not good enough; PROOF is necessary and there wasn't any imo. The Liberum guys also seemed to like what they saw and heard.

I've been thinking about today being cancelled and I feel an approach has been made by LGO. It looks like the experts are not needed as the extra expense will probably only increase costs for them. They would have to prove a loss and Quantum (not MOG) and frankly nothing has come out in Court to help them. My best guess is that they will say that they accept that Fraud never took place and MOG will own up to overstaying on a double yellow. Both sides will pay their costs and life will resume. MOG have a lot to catch up on and NR will be having a long chat with DL. I think the case by LGO has been reckless and that NR is a poisonous little straw-clutcher who has cost two sets of innocent shareholder considerable amounts of hard earned money.

Am I right. How do I know? We take a view on what we read and hear. That's why we invest. There is a buy of MOG shares today of 500,000 (2 x 250,000), that was me.

I was out later with a few pals I'd made (Sid inveigled his way in again) and later (quite a lot later actually) I was stumbling towards Chancery Lane when I spotted some familiar faces (beer glasses on so no guarantee) from the Court gathered around an old Bentley with the hood up They had sat on the LGO side so I have assumed they were drowning their sorrows. One looked hazily across to me and waved. I asked if they were OK and he said "piston broke". I answered, "that's why you should think twice before giving money to lawyers."

[pensioner2] 11/3/2014 09:53

Look on Jamesie's LGO thread.

[altom] 11/3/2014 09:22

is anyone telling us how things went on Monday, yesterday ? I would dearly love to know.

[12bn] 10/3/2014 08:22

mdchand a good point,re share price here.I would expect an initial decent sized fall if they lose followed by a rebound in the share price If it drops low enough I might buy a few.

[mdchand] 10/3/2014 08:12

mug, if LGO do win, I can't see any award being anymore than 10% of the fee MOG has received from Genel, plus legal costs (which may well be more than the 10% fee from MOG).

That said, I do wonder how much of this is already reflected in MOGs share price and regardless of the outcome, whether MOG will start to rally simply as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the outcome being removed.

[mug3] 10/3/2014 07:48

That is a pitty. Even though Higgs looks like he may be done by LGO, Genel are going to drill the well. Boom or bust.If LGO do win, MOGs financial position will be decimated and their oil company reputation will be in tatters. Today is back in court with Higgs and Morandi. Lets ser if Morandi can do a better job than Higgs.

[1nsideout] 07/3/2014 08:59

was in court for the last three days, and i was really hoping for a win for mog, been in these for a long time now and lost a packet by holding. did not like the answers from our ceo yesterday, looks as if he did have the genel deal done before buying lgo 10% and the emails after made him even more guilty for bragging,the judge was not impressed, i could tell. it feels we are losing the case, i can not afford to be down more, so i sold yesterday and got into trap oil instead. good luck to all moggers, but this looks like a lost case to me.

[williams142] 07/3/2014 07:38

If you don't have to tell your business parter what is going on and keep them in the dark on purpose then your clearly manipulating the situation then get them to sell so you make a huge profit. (Now that could be deemed as a cunning business turn), but the dates are just to close for Genel to decide over night if they want to enter. Its just looking rather bleak for a win. Best could be hoped for is a reduction such as no further costs afterwards for loss of profit. This would all be easier if they just coughed up. LGO may well be pushing for a loss of profit for the future and I think that will be the question mark over this case not the fact of paying the primary deal cost to them.

[haroldthegreat] 06/3/2014 23:45

bob you chose the wrong day to attend! today was far more interesting! i will not make any comments as its a legal case and its up to the judge to decide but i think the problem will lie in the interpretation of omission in a partnership communication compared with if its misrepresentation .
i would have thought that if you are in a partnership with someone you would tell them what is going on , but that may not be the case in law . it might be morally the correct thing to do but it may not be a legal requirement. what was obvious is that one must not make comments in emails as they might come back to bite you in the backside at a later date.
the result might not be as obvious as one thinks.

[dlg3] 06/3/2014 23:04

has Higgs gone long on leni??

[pillow] 06/3/2014 22:58

£1 tomorrow

[1waving] 06/3/2014 15:27

The MOG share price is being moved about by one main party from the look of the trades -- A single party who may just be trying to create an impression !!

Take a careful look at the sequences, size and timing of the trades and the price change timing.

I suppose there's almost a case where MOG can be viewed as undervalued --- so might be a few looking for the opportunity at the right time, hopeful bottom feeders--- not that I subscribe to that.

I don't ascribe this type of movement to what is happening in court -- or any news at all for that matter.

[lovableponce] 06/3/2014 14:55

The point is, that NR was not "informed enough". That is the crux of this case, is it not?

[mdchand] 06/3/2014 14:55

A burst of buying at 1.23 and 1.39 - wonder what going on in court?

[nutty1] 06/3/2014 14:23

He was informed enough to know he didn't want to pay for it.

[grannyboy] 06/3/2014 14:11

NR cannot make an informed decision if certain parts of the seismic was left out, which was put to the court previously.

[nutty1] 06/3/2014 13:22

" Leni Gas & Oil made it expressly clear to Mediterranean Oil & Gas, before entering into sale negotiations, that it would not sell its interest in Malta Area 4 if the 3D seismic analysis indicated Cretaceous prospects"

Its up to all parties to review the seismic and make their own call concerning Cretaceous prospectivity. As you have stated a "lack of willingness not ability to pay cash calls" with regard to the seismic, Neil, how can you expect any sympathy?

[pensioner2] 06/3/2014 12:45

Maybe he's taken Och Ziff's shilling?

[grannyboy] 06/3/2014 12:42

Well i do find it very strange that BOTH of those so called court summary's(over the 2 days) from that individual romaron very biased in MOG's favour, and do not square up with others attendee's views....

[glyn10] 06/3/2014 12:26

as always, people have different views and interpretations of events. At the end of the day we can all have opinions but it is only one that counts and that is the Judge ! So, we just need to wait patiently for the decision and then chew over the bones

[bobobob5] 06/3/2014 11:39

I would not agree that the above extract is in any way representative of yesterday. Ritson made it clear that LGO had asked for the data, which was not provided as requested. Ritson said "why should we incur the time and costs of going to Rome when the data could have been sent to our workstations London electronically, as is standard practice?" (I paraphrase slightly). Indeed, MOG's barrister made a foolish comment to Ritson "Are you psychic?" and got pulled up by the Judge for making such a remark. The Judge also revealed a bit of displeasure later; he said "I would like to thank the staff for keeping the Bundle updated" to which the MOG barrister said "I don't want to take the credit for that", which got the very immediate snap-back from the Judge "I wasn't giving it to you".

[garymegson] 06/3/2014 08:56

Make of this what you will as it hasn't been posted on here.

Wed 19:45 Today in Court March 5 romaron

Just to set the scene:



Paxman v Knott 4.30 = Zarcoli v Ritson (4.30 in)

I didn't enjoy today as much. Interrogation and evisceration loses its appeal after the first hour. The cavalier attitude towards costs is amazing. Its almost as if both sides are on legal aid (I suppose you are effectively if you cannot pay if you lose).
It was the MOG barrister questioning Mr Ritson under oath all day. I am not a court reporter or capable of shorthand so if you want a blow by blow account then I'm sure there will be somebody who recorded today's events so I shall just post the points that interested me.
It opened with Zarcoli (Z) the MOG barrister eventually getting Neil Ritson (NR) to reluctantly agree that siesmic data was available at all times in Rome. NR rather petulantly said it was MOG's responsibility to deliver it to LGO. That was why he didn't take up the offer.
I realise that BB posters try or are accused of putting over a one-sided view for their team so I take particular interest when Justice Males (JM) intervenes.
JM interventions:
To NR "is a data-room the First step in a farm-out?"
To NR "Almost always also means NOT always".
To NR "No company would pull out of marketing because discussions [on farmout] are taking place".
To NR "[MOG] would try to deceive you and the world by the video 9/7/12?".
To NR [upon NR's lack of time to read reports/letters due to holiday in July 12] "You're not a one man company?" to which NR replied that "we are small and his deputy was part-time & Fergus was busy". *An uncharitable person might say his holiday was more important and this was his Tony Hayward moment.
To NR "an unconscious decision" questioning an action which puzzled him.
To Z "that was uncalled for!" an admonishment when Z asked NR if he was physic [a contemporaneous note appeared to foretell the future]

NR struggles with a straight answer or Yes or No. His most common reply is "I can accept that is an interpretation" or a variation after long consideration.

The 19 July 12 was important as there was an OpCom meeting where an Equipoise report was to be made. Somebody else can add colour here as NR said he wasn't allowed certain material but if he had made the effort he could have found out.

Bill Higgs (BH) sent out 86 bulletins regarding marketing/farm out but NR was unaware or couldn't remember.

Z says there is no prospect in cretaceous according to NR. NR agrees, making farm out more difficult and is forced to agree that in LGO opinion Malta has gone from prospect to liability. He sends an internal email saying "we just need to get out of this".
He emails David Lenigas and Horton. Do we "cut and run or stand and fight?". Decision is to cut and run. He also suggests going adversarial on an outstanding invoice with MOG of $19,000. Threats to block the well are mentioned.

I could go on with some technical stuff (no expert) which is mainly NR saying something about a letter of comfort regarding the Maltese Govt (MRA). The Court seemed to accept that it was a technicality as the MRA would only grant an extension letter if the Joint Venture committed to the well. NR says he would vote to block the well.
NR complained that MOG showed info to 3rd parties but not to LGO. NR never asked for an update on farmout.

NR said today "lack of willingness not ability to pay cash calls" without prompting (unusual). I'm ending on this as I said it may come back to haunt him when asked if it was a case of, can't pay or won't pay. He chose won't pay so it was a little surprising that he hadn't been paid a salary from Sept 11 to June 12. He had nobly put himself at the head of other creditors. This raised an eyebrow from JM.

My personal opinion is that NR blames his incompetence on MOG, but then I would say that according to BB culture and practise.
Tomorrow is BH's turn and I expect the Mishcon guy to be worth his labour. I have an

[mdchand] 06/3/2014 08:30

hamlette note the choice of words here - under a 'duty to provide' and not 'contractually obliged'. I suspect mog didn't have to disclose any negotiations with genel if that was not expressly written into any agreement, but a lot will depend on how one describes a 'cretaceous prospect'. LGO was looking for a way out, and MOG gave them every opportunity to exit.....it's very sharp practice but I doubt its as clear cut as people think.