• Focus on Core Provinces and Trends
• Internally Generate Inventory of High Quality Exploratory Prospects
• Leverage our Operational Expertise
• Evaluate and Selectively Pursue New Potential Play
• Capitalize on Exploration Successes Through Development of Field Discoveries
• Continue to Actively Drill Our Multi-Year Prospect Inventory
• Enhance Returns Through Operational Control

 

Our People

Our experienced exploration staff includes 13 geologists, four geophysicists, two computer applications specialists and three geological technicians. Our geologists and geophysicists have varied, but complementary backgrounds. Their diversity of experience in a wide-range of geological and geophysical settings, combined with various technical specializations (from hardware and systems to software and seismic data processing), provides us with valuable technical, intellectual resources. Our geologists and geophysicists have an average of more than 22 years of experience in the industry. We have assembled our team of geologists and geophysicists with backgrounds that complement the areas where we focus our exploration and development activities. By integrating both geologic and geophysical expertise within our project teams, we believe we possess a competitive advantage in our exploration approach.

Our land department staff includes three landmen with an average of more than 29 years of experience, primarily within our core provinces, and three lease and division order analysts. Our land department contributed to pioneering many of the innovations that have facilitated exploration using large 3-D seismic projects.

 Our operations staff includes seven engineers who have an average of over 13 years of experience in drilling, reservoir, environmental or operations engineering primarily within our four core operating provinces. These engineers work closely with our geologists and geophysicists and are integrally involved in all phases of the exploration and development process, including preparation of pre- and post-drill reserve estimates, well design, production management and analysis of full cycle risked drilling economics. We conduct field operations for our operated oil and natural gas properties through our field production superintendent and third party contract personnel.

Our Operations

Our exploration and development activities are currently concentrated in four provinces: the Onshore Gulf Coast, the Anadarko Basin, the Rocky Mountains and West Texas. We regularly evaluate opportunities to expand our activities to other areas that may offer attractive exploration and development potential, with a particular interest in those areas with plays that complement our current exploration, development and production activities. As a result of this strategy, from late 2005 through 2007, we have been accumulating significant acreage positions in the Williston and Powder River Basins. Operations within these two basins are included in and constitute the bulk of our activity in our Rocky Mountains province. We have also entered into four joint ventures in Southern Louisiana over the last two years. We consider these joint ventures to be logical extensions of our prospect generating activities along the onshore Texas Gulf Coast.