MHQ: Give our listeners an overview of the company and outline the company's projects and operations.

IEL: Icon Energy is an upstream oil and gas company and it works primarily in Australia, with a small interest in Louisiana. But we explore for oil and gas. We are currently exploring for coal seam gas, where gas is recovered from coal and that's our core business now having identified a very large asset.

But we are a small cap Australian company with a current market capitalization of $70 million. Today we're trading on the exchange at 20.5 cents Australian. That's a little different to the way you trade in the United States, but we have many more shares on issue for those cents, as opposed to fewer shares to trade up around a dollar or more.

MHQ: So then give us a better feel about the current political climate within these regions, as it pertains to drilling, exploration, etc.

IEL: In Australia right now, the Australian share market is down about 54 percent, or more than half on what it was just a few months ago. I understand in the US it's down about 34 percent. Our discount value for our stocks has been more heavily hit in this country than it has in the US.

As opposed to that, Icon is up 350 percent in a year, having come from 3 cents to where it is now. Of course, the Australian dollar is now down around $0.68 to a US dollar, where previously it was very close to parity not so many months ago.

So there are real bargains in Australia. But the coal seam gas industry has gone against the Australian trend. With the interest in gas for marketing in Asia and for gas that's required for electricity generation, now that the government has brought in these new protocols to keep the environment in good shape.

And carbon trading and emissions trading schemes being established here now, we are leading the world, and this is having an effect on coal, so gas is in high demand.

MHQ: The Company announcing on the wire announced that it signed over a $36 million deal, if you would, give us an update on that development, and in terms of where those funds are going to be used.

IEL: That’s an easy one to answer. These – the $36 million deal has been done with what we call a government-owned corporation here that is owned by the Queensland government. This company Stanwell Corporation, it trades 30 percent of all the electricity generated in Queensland in Australia.

By signing a deal with that company to generate electricity, we've been able to enter an agreement whereby only 10 percent of our estimated resource is going to be utilized, leaving us 90 percent for sale on the open market. But this group Stanwell, represents to us as a foundation customer to what – to do two things; one, to give us an influx of capital for work. Which will be spent developing the coal seam gas; and secondly, to give us a market for the gas whereby we can classify our reserves as – our resources as reserves, because you must have a market for coal seam gas before you can do that.

So this represents a wonderful opportunity for us.

MHQ: Give us a better feel for our listeners about this balance of this board of management team in place at Icon Energy.

IEL: Well, I myself have been in the industry for over 35 years. I spent much of my early years with Chevron in Australia and the United States. After that, I was with Gulf Oil for a time. Since that time I’ve been involved in public companies in Australia.

Icon was formed in 1993, and it was listed on the Australian stock exchange in 1997, where it remains today. The board of management consists presently of a lawyer and a finance man, who has – our finance director was formerly the associate professor at the Business School of Bond University in Australia where he has joined us full time.

We've recently added some expert staff in engineering and geology and geophysics. We have a highly experienced team to tackle this core asset of coal seam gas.

MHQ: Will the company look to joint ventures or mergers and acquisitions moving forward?

IEL: With the Stanwell Corporation deal, it is a joint venture in a small area of our prime block , we would look towards doing further joint venturing. In Most of our blocks, we hold high percentages, at least in some of them 100 percent, and where you have high percentages like that you are able to introduce partners. You really do need to lower the risk by bringing in a partner. Partners bring in capital and make things a lot more manageable.

We are not planning any mergers, but we are planning acquisitions in moving forward. We've recently acquired some new areas, that we do have activity outside of our core business. But this asset that we've identified now, the contract we've just signed with Stanwell is aMelissa

small contract representing perhaps 10 percent of the resource is for over $1 billion over a 15-year period. That's a substantial core asset that we have, and that's our main focus right now.

MHQ: Where do you see then Icon Energy positioned in about a two to three year period?

IEL: Within a two to three year period we'll be in commercial production of gas we expect. There are certain risks associated with that, but within a two to three year period, we should be supplying gas to one or more power stations. We will be well on the way to supplying gas for the LNG market, which will be centered in Gladstone and exporting to Asian markets.

Within that two to three year period, we'd expect our market cap, which I mentioned is $70 million today. We have an aim to get that market cap to $300 million, and we see this as readily achievable with the successful development of our asset.

MHQ: In conclusion, then, why should an investor look to consider Icon Energy Limited as a long term investment opportunity?

IEL: The reason that Icon is an attractive investment today is because of its coal seam gas resource. We've estimated that this could be as high as 5.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in place. We have various estimates, but an independent expert has indicated that this resource should be at least 2 trillion cubic feet recoverable.That is a very large resource, and that is our primary focus. In the long term, the monetarization of that asset will be of benefit to shareholders.We do have an active takeover market in Australia. We appear to be next in line. But at this point in time, we are adequately protected with our shareholding in the company, and we expect to be able to add value to shareholders through the company's activities. At this stage, we're not amenable to takeover; any listed company is in some danger of this.The company has other assets outside of this which are currently expiration assets; we have a very considerable and attractive asset in Southwest Queensland, in the middle of the production area there.So long term, we see further development and discoveries in substantial quantities, and the development of the coal seam gas will add value to us. Our market cap of $300 million with 332 million shares on issue means the share price would have to be up around $1.00. So that's our aim, and that's where our team is moving now.