Q&A with Tony Buckingham, CEO
How has your strategy evolved over the last year?
Heritage remains committed to generating shareholder value by focusing on high-impact exploration with the potential to discover substantial hydrocarbon reserves. Our strategy of realising value for shareholders within our own portfolio has recently been demonstrated by the sale of our Oman holdings for $28 million. With this asset, Heritage had a minority interest in a non-operated licence with negligible reserves which was no longer considered integral to the portfolio. We believe that the proceeds will generate greater value through reinvestment in our core activity areas of Uganda and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
How does the Company engage with shareholders?
One of the aims of moving to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange was to enhance the Company’s status and profile among European investors and within the international oil and gas sector as a whole. Communication with shareholders is given a high priority and we ensure there is regular dialogue with institutional investors, as well as general presentations to analysts. As a result
we have broadened our investor base and increased the research coverage, giving Heritage an increased profile. We have also redesigned our website which is continually updated to keep investors informed of our activities. We also employed a full time investor relations specialist for the
first time who has coordinated an effective investor relations programme.
What values define Heritage?
Heritage has many core values that run through all our activities. These include:
• respecting the laws and customs of the countries in which we operate;
• supporting the communities in areas where we operate;
• promoting long-term relationships with stakeholders;
• encouraging and supporting employees to play their part in creating a better environment;
• motivating staff to retain and attract experienced employees; and
• the belief that shareholders’ long-term interests are best served by the pursuit of businesses with high standards of responsibility.
What distinguishes Heritage from other companies within the sector?
The Company has many competitive strengths, including:
• experienced management and technical team with a track-record of finding valuable oil discoveries;
• a geographically diversified portfolio of high-impact exploration plays;
• our demonstrated success as a first-mover in being awarded assets in territories such as Uganda and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; and
• our proven track-record of realising value through asset sales.
What does 2009 hold for Heritage?
2009 will be another exciting year for Heritage as we continue with high-impact exploration in our focus areas of Uganda and Kurdistan. We are planning on returning to Block 1 in Uganda later in the year with an exciting exploration and appraisal programme in this prolific basin. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq will also feature prominently in 2009 as we are currently testing the Miran West-1 well.
Do you have a message for shareholders?
Exceptional exploration success has begun to transform the Company within the last year and we have delivered on promises made in our Annual Report last year. Namely, we have exceeded the volume threshold required to justify development in Uganda and we have commenced a high-impact drilling campaign in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Heritage has the ability to grow significantly over the coming years and we believe that we have the management, technical expertise and strategy to achieve this.
What, for you, were the highlights of 2008?
2008 was a year of tremendous achievements for Heritage, both operationally and corporately. Operationally, we continued with the 100% success rate in Uganda where we discovered the Buffalo-Giraffe field which management considers to be the largest onshore discovery in Sub-Saharan Africa for 20 years. This discovery, in our operated Block 1, pushed the Albert Basin over the threshold required for a commercial development.
In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq we accelerated our work programme and within only 15 months of signing our licence we commenced drilling the prospective Miran West-1 well – a remarkable achievement highlighting the technical and managerial capabilities of Heritage.
Corporately, Heritage listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in March 2008 and joined the FTSE 250 Index. This has been very advantageous for the Company, increasing the visibility of the Company and the liquidity of our shares.