Private Equity
SWORD ENERGY INC.
Sword Energy Inc. (“Sword”) is a private Canadian company that began commercial operations in June 2007 to purchase, operate, explore for and develop crude oil and natural gas properties in a tax effective structure for Canadian pension plans. Sword is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, and employs 50 full time professionals
Production:
Sword currently produces approximately 6,000 Barrels of Oil Equivalent (“BOE”) per day in Western Canada with a gas/oil weighting of 65% natural gas.
Assets:
Sword’s existing assets are concentrated in certain core areas within Western Canada. Sword is currently focused on developing its oil weighted opportunities which make up approximately 68% of the company’s total resource potential.
Strategy:
Sword reinvests the majority of its cash flow into the organic development of its existing assets and in the acquisition and exploration of additional properties in an ongoing effort to grow its production and asset value.
Tax Advantage:
The tax-exempt status of Sword’s major stakeholders allows it to acquire and develop assets on a pretax economic basis in an industry dominated by taxable entities. This tax advantage is relatively unique to Sword, as very few tax-exempt entities operate in the Canadian oil and gas industry.
Management:
The executive management of Sword is provided externally by Aston Hill Financial Inc. (“Aston Hill”). Under this arrangement, Aston Hill works in concert with Sword’s internal staff to provide planning, funding, marketing, reporting and acquisition services.
Ownership:
Sword is primarily owned by three tax-exempt pension plans or pension fund managers. These institutions, in aggregate, hold 97.43% of shares outstanding. Its manager, Aston Hill, holds the remaining 2.57% of Sword.