VANCOUVER, June 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - International
oil and gas operator, TAG Oil Ltd., listed on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (trading symbol TAO), and in the US on the OTCQX (trading
symbol TAOIF), is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr.
Toby Pierce as Chief Executive
Officer and a Director of TAG Oil, effective immediately.
Mr. Pierce, MBA, B.Sc., is a natural-resource executive with
more than 19 years of extensive transactional and valuation
experience across multiple deals, from a million to $1.3 billion in value. He began his career
as a geologist with Hunter
Dickinson, then moved to Pierce Geological, a privately held
oil and gas consulting company. As Acting Director of Oil and Gas
Institutional Research at Tristone Capital, Mr. Pierce worked in
both the Calgary and London offices. Remaining in London, he became Partner and Lead Oil and Gas
Analyst for GMP Europe Securites LLP, where he covered a variety of
oil and gas companies with market capitalizations ranging from
$30 million to $15 billion, and
provided strategic advice and valuation expertise both internally
to the investment banking and sales partners, and externally to
energy company management on asset acquisitions, financings, and
capital markets, while conducting numerous site visits and asset
reviews of operations around the globe. Mr. Pierce recently held a
senior management position as Managing Director of Burnt Ridge
Advisory, a natural resources advisory firm focused on
acquisitions, valuation, investments, M&A, deal structuring,
and due diligence for resource companies and investors.
"As a lead oil and gas analyst," commented Alex Guidi, TAG's founder and Chairman, "Toby
has a wealth of industry knowledge and a deep understanding of the
capital markets, investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, and
the challenges and opportunities inherent with international oil
and gas companies. Toby's strong strategic and analytical skills
and his whole history of experience are a great match for TAG's
goals and business plan, to: identify opportunities, execute oil
field development and exploration, optimize efficiencies across all
areas of the business, increase and broaden capital market
awareness and analyst following in North
America, Europe and the
Asian financial communities, and ensure TAG Oil's value is properly
reflected in the markets as an international peer group
leader."
Toby Pierce added, "With TAG
Oil's impressive New Zealand
acreage package, stable existing production base, strong balance
sheet, and excellent set of development opportunities, I see
nothing but possibilities. Given the decline in oil prices and the
reduced risk appetite amongst investors for internationally based
smaller E&P companies, I think this is the ideal time to focus
on profitable operations versus exploration, and to position TAG
Oil for the next up-cycle in international oil stocks. I'm excited
to be part of the TAG team going forward, and see many
opportunities to enhance shareholder value."
Concurrent with Mr. Pierce's appointment as CEO, Mr.
Alex Guidi will continue to act as
Chairman of the Company. TAG Oil's Board now consists of
Alex Guidi, Toby Pierce, Keith
Hill, Ken Vidalin and
Brad Holland.
TAG Oil Ltd.
TAG Oil Ltd. (http://www.tagoil.com/) is a Canadian-based
development-stage oil and gas company with extensive operations,
including production infrastructure, in the Taranaki region of
New Zealand. As one of
New Zealand's leading operators,
TAG is poised for long-term, reserve-based growth, and is
positioned with attractive exploration activities in the lightly
explored Taranaki Basin discovery fairway. As a low cost, high
netback oil and gas producer, TAG is debt-free and reinvests its
cash flow into development and step-out drilling along trend with
the Company's existing production.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements contained in this news release that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve
various risks and uncertainty affecting the business of TAG. Such
statements can be generally, but not always, be identified by words
such as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates",
"forecasts", "guidance", "schedules", "prepares", "potential" and
similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would",
"may", "could" or "should" occur. All estimates and statements with
respect to the CEO appointment and operations are forward-looking
statements under applicable securities laws and necessarily involve
risks and uncertainties including, without limitation: risks
associated with oil and gas exploration, development, exploitation
and production, geological risks, marketing and transportation,
availability of adequate funding, volatility of commodity prices,
environmental risks, competition from other producers, and changes
in the regulatory and taxation environment. Actual results may vary
materially from the information provided in this release, and there
is no representation by TAG Oil that the actual results realized in
the future would be the same in whole or in part as those presented
herein.
Other factors that could cause actual results to differ from
those contained in the forward-looking statements are also set
forth in filings that TAG and its independent evaluator have made,
including TAG's most recently filed reports in Canada under NI 51-101, which can be found
under TAG's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. TAG undertakes no
obligation, except as otherwise required by law, to update these
forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs,
estimates or opinions, or other factors change.
SOURCE TAG Oil Ltd.
