It is with pleasure that I write to introduce myself and the new board of Freedom Oil and Gas Ltd (ASX: FDM). The company has successfully exited external administration on the 17th May 2021, and the board have implemented a new vision for the Company.
New Vision
The new vision and direction for Freedom Oil and Gas is one that brings Freedom in-line with the energy demands of the 21st century and the expectations of the global community in which Freedom operates.
This vision is:
Freedom Oil and Gas Ltd will become a Diversified Energy Company focused on acquiring low cost energy assets in the United States and Australia, covering Oil & Gas, Coal and New Energy (Hydrogen, Methanol, Ammonia, and others) with a focus on sustainable long term low cost production of energy products, all the while meeting the expectations and demands of the 21st century.
Freedom Oil and Gas plans to build value for shareholders by developing these strategically acquired traditional energy sources and transforming them into higher grade energy products, through the use of advanced off-the-shelf technology and utilising its own engineered processes.
Freedom Oil and Gas will undertake a buy-to-build strategy and aims to assess up to 20 deals per year and close on 3 to 4 assets a year, and develop these strategically acquired assets into self-supporting positive cash flow producing businesses.
Whilst Freedom Oil and Gas is currently only listed on the ASX, the company plans to dual list on a US or European based stock exchange in the near-term to increase its potential shareholder base and gain greater access to energy focused investors.
The Board and I look forward to working with the shareholders to build Freedom Oil and Gas Limited into a successful and profitable energy company.
New Board
Your new board at Freedom are industry and corporate professionals; Mr Albert Cheok as the non-executive chairman, Mr. Don Scholfield as an executive director and Myself Mr Stephen Petith as managing director. Mr Michael Ryan has also been appointed as the new company secretary.
Mr Albert Cheok - Chairman, Non-Executive Director
Mr. Cheok is an experienced Board member and Chairman of Australian and other internationally listed companies. He is a banker with over 40 years of experience in banking in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in Australia. Mr. Cheok was a member of the Board of Governors of the Malaysian Institute of Corporate Governance in Malaysia.
Mr. Cheok’s current other directorships in listed companies are:
Chairman, 5G Networks Limited (Australia)
Chairman, Supermax Corporation Berhad (Malaysia)
Chairman, International Standard Resources Holding Limited (Hong Kong)
Non-executive independent director, China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings Limited (Hong Kong)
Mr Don Schofield - Executive Director
Mr. Schofield is an experienced Oil and Gas and resource executive with over 35 years of international experience in the founding and operating of petroleum, resource development and mining related companies in the public and private sector.
Mr Schofield founded and is the CEO of the Promise Energy Group based in Houston, Texas USA since 2014. Promise Energy Group operates legacy oil and gas fields in Texas with large proven reserves and considerable upside potential for further development. Mr Schofield was part of the executive team at Linc Energy, an ASX top 200 company between 2007 and 2013, served as President of SAPEX LTD with large tenements in South Australia, President of Linc Energy USA based in Denver Colorado with productive oil and gas operations in Texas, Louisiana and Wyoming and development projects in several other regions including Alaska.
Mr Schofield founded and served as CEO of White Sands Petroleum which was registered in 2001 and listed on the ASX in 2006. White Sands Petroleum owned drilling equipment and performed exploration operations for other companies in Australia.
Mr Schofield was General Manager of AJ Lucas, an ASX listed construction and drilling service company based in Sydney from 1999 to 2001 with large construction projects and technically difficult drilling operations.
Mr Schofield studied Mining Engineering at Colorado School of Mines and graduated with a B.Sc in Geology from Colorado State University. He is currently a member of AusIMM, AAPG and has numerous professional and technical certifications including Mine Manager.
Mr Schofield will become the Managing Director of the Company after the first Acquisition (see below).
Mr Stephen Petith - Executive Director
Mr Petith is an experienced private equity professional and investor with over 20 years experience in developing and delivering strategies that improve asset optimisation and business profits.
Mr Petith joined the Royal Australian Navy as an apprentice straight out of school specialising in Electronic Warfare equipment. After this service he went into private enterprise and has operated and sold a number of businesses and worked as an advisor to other family businesses throughout Australia and Asia.
Mr Petith is regarded for his ability to build relationships within businesses, initiate new business practices and strategies, while achieving the best outcome for the organisation.
Mr Petith’s role will revert to Executive Director (Acquisitions) of the Company after the company’s first Acquisition (see below).
Additional Non-Executive Director
The company is in negotiations to bring another non-executive director onto the board, to increase the board's independent risk management and strategic review capacity.
Operational Direction and Acquisition of First Asset
FDM’s main business activity will initially be the production of natural gas from Project Madison a Texas based Gas Plant and Field and thereafter, following reworking of the gas plant, the production of new energy products (Hydrogen, Methanol, Ammonia). These products are seen by the Board of the Company as energy products of the 21st century and they believe this is the way FDM will be best placed to serve its shareholders, community and other stakeholders.
Project Madison will first be returned to an operating state that enables it to produce clean Natural Gas, as the plant was first built. The timeframe to put the Plant and Field back into production is 4-6 months, following which the Company will start producing revenue. The Company will then implement a plant upgrade that will see the installation of conversion equipment that will enable the Plant and Field to operate as either a purification plant for Natural Gas or a plant that can produce Hydrogen, Methanol and Ammonia, which can be sold into the local market, through the chemical distribution networks available in Texas and the rest of the USA.
Installing the conversion equipment at the Plant will provide the Company with a number of production options to counter any cyclical nature in the pricing for Natural Gas, Hydrogen, Methanol and Ammonia, and will help the Company to at all times have a saleable commodity to produce.
FDM will also undertake C02 sequestration at Project Madison by capturing the C02 contained in the extracted gas and also the CO2 that is released through the process of converting the gas into alternative products and fuels. This is achievable at the Plant and Field as there is a permitted and certified C02 injection well owned and controlled by the Company.
In the medium term the new Board plans to expand the Company’s oil and gas and gas-to-liquids businesses through the acquisition of low-cost conventional oil and gas fields. The board of the Company views these as ideal targets:
To undertake Carbon Capture and Storage into empty oil and gas reservoirs;
To undertake Enhanced Oil Recovery to produce oil and gas from fields that have become marginal to produce, plus store Carbon in the process;
To undertake Gas to liquids (Methanol, Ammonia and Hydrogen) to increase the cash flow from these resources and pivot the Company to being a sustainable producer of energy products; and
The ability to sell the Gas at market price or convert it into higher value products and liquid fuels will provide the Madisonville project with a safety net from having to shut the plant and field down if the price of Natural Gas drops below an economic level to produce. The Company can pursue the sale of other products and liquid fuels that have a higher market price than the gas required to produce them.
Relisting Process
The board and senior management are currently finishing an Application for in principal advice to present to the ASX for our relisting to the board.
We have also engaged a team of professional partners to work alongside the board and senior management to complete the Prospectus and initial capital raising tasks to have the company capital and structurally ready to undertake our new plan.
The board welcomes shareholders to contact us and discuss the plans for reinvigorating the company.
