I have not caught up on my reading yet, but I just have to get my 2 cents in here. I am in the loan camp, when NOT management is talking about using equity. It is done all the time, that banks give loans/lines of credit, against equity. A few oil and gas companies I have followed often talk about funding through guaranteed lines of credit. I could only assume these lines of credit are based on proven resources owned by those companies.

So lets look at what NOT has done.

- 43-101, an independent resource base estimate of resource value, est. 1.8 billion dollars for E1 only.

- scoping study or better explained, a business plan

go to bank and say this is what I have how much will you lend?

At 1.8 billion dollars 173 million is less than 10% of NOT's proven resource(E1 only). This would easily qualify for an equity loan. For example TD Canada trust will give individuals up to 80% of their homes equity by way of a line of credit. IE. if you own your $200,000 house(no mortgage) TD will allow you of get a $160,000 line of credit to spend any way you want with only the requirement of making interest payments monthly not ever having to pay any principle(or reduce the loan.

Below is an ex cert from TD;

Mortgages Home Equity Line of Credit If you like the idea of paying your mortgage at your own pace, a Home Equity Line of Credit provides you with a flexible alternative to a traditional mortgage. A Home Equity Line of Credit lets you determine your own monthly payments -- as low as interest only, or as much as you want.¹ A Home Equity Line of Credit is simply a revolving Line of Credit that allows you to use the equity in your home to borrow money. Why choose a Home Equity Line of Credit over another home loan? You may never need to apply for credit again. With the Home Equity Line of Credit, you can have access to up to 80% of the appraised value or purchase price of your home (whichever is lower), less any prior outstanding mortgage charges. As your mortgage balance decreases, your available credit increases. Use your available credit to: