High Plains Gas, Inc.(fka HPGS)

[MrLingo]

HPGS PRESS RELEASE! 10/4/2011 BusinessWire and Reuters.com had it first.

http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20111004005342/en

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/04/idUS116687+04-Oct-2011+BW20111004

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11266817/1/new-high-plains-gas-ceo-issues-open-letter-to-shareholders.html

***Copied from Reuters.com url link posted above***

Tue Oct 4, 2011 8:00am EDT


New High Plains Gas CEO Issues Open Letter to Shareholders

High Plains Gas, Inc. (OTC:HPGS) provided the following open letter to shareholders from its new Chief Executive Officer, Brandon W. Hargett.

Fellow Shareholders:

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself, address the current state of High Plains Gas, and finally, outline our future multipronged growth strategy. Additionally, I would like to reaffirm management’s determination and dedication to be transparent with our shareholders.

Introduction

I was appointed as CEO of High Plains Gas on September 1, 2011. Prior to my appointment, I held the position of vice president of business development since the Company’s acquisition of Current Energy Partners (“CEP”). Before joining High Plains, I was one of the founders and chief operations officer at CEP where I was instrumental in acquiring Marathon Oil’s North and South Fairway assets in the Powder River Basin. Prior to founding CEP, I served as president of Mirus Capital Investment Advisors. I completed my undergraduate and graduate (MBA) degrees at the University of Utah. I am deeply committed to High Plains and successfully executing our binary mission to become a leading regional energy producer and spearheading our newly-established High Plains Gas Services division into becoming a top regional construction and field maintenance services firm.

Current Status

As we stand today, High Plains is predominantly an energy production company focused on coalbed methane production. The past twelve months have been highly productive for High Plains. We began with just over 92 wells and modest production. Now we have grown our company to over 1,700 wells and realized revenues of approximately $4 million per quarter. Significant opportunities exist to grow that revenue stream primarily through the development of our 155,000 acres acquired from Marathon Oil in November 2010. As we continue to operate existing wells and reactivate shut-in wells, we have the opportunity for robust growth in revenues from these assets. For more information on the reserves, please refer to the reserve report prepared by Netherland, Sewell & Associates, which we filed along with our most recent Form 10-K.

Great companies cannot exist without great people, so we take great pride in hiring, training, motivating, rewarding and retaining what we regard as the best employees in the industry. While we feel that we have strong internal talent, we also understand the importance of external synergies with some of the most respected industry partners. High Plains has a $75 million credit facility with Amegy Bank, a leading energy bank based in Houston. Eide Bailly serves as our independent auditing firm. We have also teamed up with Netherland, Sewell & Associates, a premier petroleum-engineering firm respected worldwide as an industry leader. We feel that the continued alignment with these and other industry leaders will only strengthen our ethos moving forward.

Coalbed methane production remains our core business; however, as with any successful company, we realize novel and additional revenue streams are important to our current and future financial health. These opportunities are available primarily due to the dramatic increase in drilling rigs being utilized to explore and develop oil and natural gas in the nearby prolific Bakken and Niobrara shale plays. We see this continued focus by small and large oil companies alike as an opportunity to align our strengths and resources to amplify growth and profitability. Moving forward, we are initiating a very important strategic shift from a primary energy production company to a more balanced focus with construction and field maintenance construction services, namely High Plains Gas Services.

Strategic Direction

HPG Services is expected to drive both top- and bottom-line growth. We have recently signed multiple Master Service Agreements with established companies that operate regionally within the energy industry. We are currently in the process of engaging projects in our region, including North Dakota and Wyoming, as well as working to develop our internal resources to take on bigger projects. We have facilities that will enable us to fabricate many of the specialized items necessary for the operations of companies from which we win bids. We are in the final stages of receiving approval for our code stamp, an important process for building compliant structures used within the energy industry. Mark Hettinger, Chief Operations Officer of High Plains Gas, understands the energy construction and maintenance business very well, and I have no doubt that Mark will be able to build HPG Services into a regional, if not a national leader in this industry. He was able to take his previous construction and services company, Hettinger Welding, from a small regional welding company to a company generating $200+ million per year in revenue.

Initiatives

I believe it is prudent at this time to address our shareholder communication. As CEO, I will make it a priority to communicate on a more consistent basis with the investment community, as I intend to foster a culture of corporate accountability and excellence. We are committed to being transparent with our shareholders and I look forward to providing more regular updates regarding the progress of our company.

In summary, I am very excited to lead High Plains through its next phase of growth. My objectives are to strengthen the aforementioned newly created HPG Services, redouble our focus on field management of our energy assets, and aggressively implement cost reduction and profitability enhancement plans both in the field and on the corporate level, thereby improving the balance sheet.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and please contact us using the information provided below should you have questions.

With Regards,

Brandon W. Hargett

Chief Executive Officer

About the Company

High Plains Gas, Inc. is a Gillette, Wyoming based energy company actively engaged in the acquisition, development and production of natural gas primarily in the Powder River Basin. The Company recently acquired the former Marathon “North & South Fairway” assets. These assets consist of 1614 Coal Bed Methane Wells with associated flow lines and over 155,000 net acres. This combined with the company’s existing 92 natural gas wells gives the company a strong foundation in the natural gas industry. High Plains Gas will pursue expansion opportunities for the profitable production and transmission of natural gas. High Plains Gas believes it has unique expertise and experience in the refurbishment and reactivation of wells that produce natural gas from coal bed methane formations that helps position it strategically in the Powder River Basin. In 2011, the Company formed a subsidiary, High Plains Gas Services, LLC, focused on providing construction and maintenance services to the energy industry, primarily in the Western United States. For additional information on High Plains Gas, please visit the Company’s website at http://www.highplainsgas.com/.

Safe Harbor

Statements made about our future expectations are forward-looking statements and subject to risks and uncertainties as described in our most recent filings made with the US Securities and Exchange commission, and are subject to change at any time. Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement.




High Plains Gas, Inc.
Tim Ondrak, 406-239-1214
[e-mail]
www.highplainsgas.com
or
LHA
Becky Herrick, 415-433-3777
[e-mail]