Stop. Put that phone down. There's no need to call for the chaps in white coats. The Slug is just having fun as he watches an American oil company acknowledge the power of the Monarchy.

Chevron, the American company which owns much in Australia but which has done little over the past 20 years, is the target of Her Majesty, and The Slug.

She (who must be obeyed) via her officials in Oz, has indulged in a spot of Riot Act reading on the Chevron doorstep in regard to undeveloped gas reserves in a time of great local demand.

In particular, there is the West Tryal Rocks gasfield which has been lying dormant for decades because Chevron couldn't decide what to do with it and because the enforcement of "use it or lose it" laws has been so lax in Oz.

Not now, it seems. At long last there is consensus among Australia's many layers of government that the law really does mean using what's been discovered, or losing it.

It is no longer being interpreted as "use it or lose it, maybe, sooner or later" which seems to have been the belief of Chevron and a few other oil companies.

What has probably come as a particular surprise to the Americans inside Chevron is that Her Majesty really does own the minerals and oil which lies under Australian soil, and anyone who thinks they own what they discover is completely wrong.

Two tests will determine what happens next.

First, will the Australian and Western Australian governments actually do what they're threatening to do - force the divestment of undeveloped gas pools such as that at West Tryal Rocks.

Five years ago the late John Roberts of Multiplex tried to force the issue, only to find that government wasn't quite ready to enforce its own laws.

Will today be different? That's a fascinating question.

Equally fascinating is whether Chevron will also stick to its promise and actually develop West Tryal Rocks as a stand-alone domestic gas producer, or whether it is simply playing games, again.

If no one believes there's a spot of game playing underway, they had better look at the agreement which covers the underground assets of Her Maj and the obligations of people who discover things.

One of the clauses applies to "best endeavours" to undertake a commercial development, and proof of a best endeavour might include offering gas to the domestic market, only to find customers are only prepared to pay a cheap price.

No Australian government has ever enforced the use it or lose it principles in a way which would cause a business to lose money.

More might be learned over the next month as the West Tryal Rocks situation comes to a head at the May 28 deadline for renewing the retention lease which covers the gasfield, or allowing it to drop.

Lurking in the background of this mini-drama of enforcing laws which has never been enforced before is something somewhat more interesting - and requires a degree of original thinking as you look at the options.

Firstly, Chevron is highly unlikely to drop West Tryal Rocks. But, if it does decide on a stand-alone development, what does that say about the bigger picture - the development of the increasingly expansive Gorgon project which is supposed to accommodate West Tryal Rocks at some time in the future.

A stand-alone domestic gas project will be useful for everyone, but it could mean the Gorgon timetable has just blown out, again.