VANCOUVER, July 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - TAG Oil Ltd. (TSX:
TAO) and (OTCQX: TAOIF), reports the Company has hired Mr.
Max Murray as TAG Oil's New Zealand
Country Manager, based in New Plymouth, New Zealand. Mr. Murray will replace Mr.
Randy Toone who has resigned to
return to Canada for personal
reasons and to focus on mid-stream business opportunities in
North America.
Mr. Murray's thirty years of operational and proven
executive leadership in the oil and gas industry, and in particular
his thorough understanding of the New
Zealand oil and gas landscape, is a strong fit for TAG as
the Company evolves from a junior explorer into one of the busiest
integrated explorers and producers of oil and gas in New Zealand.
Over the past six years with Origin Energy, Mr. Murray has
achieved consistent progression of executive growth; his most
recent position as Manager Production Upstream E&P and Senior
in Country Manager for New Zealand
saw him accountable for the safe and efficient operation of all
Origin producing assets across Australia and New
Zealand. With an annual Origin operating budget of more than
AUS$300 million, revenues of $600
million and capital expenditure of AUS$130 million, Mr
Murray has a proven track record of successful leadership.
Prior to Origin, Mr. Murray has held senior positions with Swift
Energy New Zealand, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Co. Ltd., and
Methanex New Zealand.
Mr. Murray will be accountable for all TAG's New Zealand based operations and executing the
Company's annual, three and five year business plans, as well as
identifying new opportunities to accelerate business growth. Mr.
Murray has extensive experience ensuring operations are
consistently performed safely and to a high standard, and vital to
TAG, underpinned by the Company's core values. His background in
Health, Safety and Environmental best practice is evidenced by Mr.
Murray's appointment to the Worksafe New Zealand advisory
panel.
TAG Oil CEO Garth Johnson
commented, "I would like to thank Randy for his efforts wish him
all the best in his future endeavours and, including the
implementation of newly adapted best practice management systems,
significantly improving the Company's effectiveness. We are also
very happy to welcome Max to the TAG team. With a $60 million capital investment program already
underway for fiscal 2015, Max's leadership will enable TAG to
continue to grow safely yet at a very quick pace."
The Company also announces that it will grant a total of 200,000
incentive stock options to Mr. Murray when he begins his employment
with TAG on September 1, 2014 at
market price the day prior to his start, exercisable for a period
of five years, subject to certain vesting provisions.
About TAG Oil Ltd.
TAG Oil Ltd. (http://www.tagoil.com/) is a Canadian-based
production and exploration company with operations focused
exclusively in New Zealand. With
100% ownership over all its core assets, including extensive oil
and gas production infrastructure, TAG is enjoying significant
organic value creation through exploration success and ongoing
development and appraisal drilling of several light oil and gas
discoveries. As New Zealand's
leading explorer, TAG actively drills high-impact conventional and
unconventional exploration prospects identified in the Taranaki,
East Coast and Canterbury Basins that covers 2.8 million net acres
of land, prospective for major discovery in New Zealand.
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 generally, but not always, identified by words such
as "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates",
"forecasts", "schedules", "prepares", "potential" and similar
expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may",
"could" or "should" occur. All estimates and statements that
describe the Company's objectives, goals, or future plans are
forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and
necessarily involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may
vary materially from the information provided in this release, and
there is no representation by TAG that the actual results realized
in the future will 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 National Instrument 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.