>I am not sure they HAD to spend the 50mill.

I am.

Production And Development Agreement

"ExxonMobil shall not have the right or option to expend less than said US$50,000,000 minimum expenditure, unless ExxonMobil elects to proceed with the Appraisal Work Program and expend the Carry Over Amount in the Appraisal Work Program."

>It could have been better for continuation purposes of the venture.

Exactly! That's the point I made a few weeks ago. If Exxon was in a big rush to leave, they would have happily spent the rest of the money, even if it meant putting it in a pile and setting it on fire.

The very fact that they were reluctant to do the last frac tells me that they would rather have spent the money more wisely, which in turn means they either plan on sticking around, or hadn't yet made up their minds at the time.