JIM BUCKEE. "The Oil Barons - Energy analysts pick five of the industry's bright lights"
Calgary Sun, November 14
By Glen Whelan
Jim Buckee left the ivory towers of academia for the skyscrapers
of big business when, despite holding a doctorate in astrophysics,
he figured he'd never be the next Sir Isaac Newton.
While he hasn't written any new laws of motion, Dr. Buckee
wrote the book on the corporate takeover, engineering billions of
dollars in acquisitions since Talisman Energy Inc. sprung from the
ashes of BP Canada Inc. in 1992.
Buckee has also been at the forefront of the Canadian oilpatch's
move to the international stage, scooping up companies with
operations in the North Sea, Indonesia, Trinidad, Algeria and the
controversial Sudan.
"His strength has been being able to pick the best areas in global
oil and gas that work for an independent energy firm," says Wilf
Gobert, managing director of research at Calgary-based Peters
& Co.
"The whole company has been tremendously successful in buying
and exploiting for greater value. He's made some very successful
deals over the years."
Perhaps like no other chief executive in the Canadian oilpatch,
Buckee has taken a long-term approach to the business,
methodically building Talisman from a mid-size domestic gas
producer, to a large international oil and gas producer with strong
strategic positions in its core areas.
"His gunsights are always three or four years down the road,"
says FirstEnergy's Martin Molyneaux. "He's got a great ability to
identify long-term opportunities and a phenomenal talent for
walking away from fictional opportunities that don't really create
value for the company."
But Buckee hasn't stepped away from Sudan, a political hornet's
nest that has landed Talisman in hot water with U.S. Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright, raised the concern of Foreign Affairs
Minister Lloyd Axworthy and rattled investors.
Buckee insists the oil play in the civil war-torn country won't only
be profitable for shareholders, but it will help bring much-needed
infrastructure funding to southern Sudanese natives, who have
been suffering for 14 years at the hands of a fundamentalist
government.
"I happen to think Mr. Buckee has been vilified for no reason by
the press," said one analyst. "He's a man of honour who really
believes he can make a positive change."
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