Cowtown at sundown.

A stranger, press card in hat, arrives at Canadian Superior Energy. He is greeted at the door by three cowboys.

The first two gunslingers look like they should be in High Noon, staring down Gary Cooper on a deserted main street in Hadleyville, not staking out the lobby of an oil and gas company on the 33rd floor of the Sunterra Tower.

Fortunately, they’re sculptures from an artist’s impression of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The third cowpoke is Greg Noval, the real, live chief executive officer of Canadian Superior who would explain that the third sculpture is still in the works.

Some wags in the oilpatch might suggest the shoot-from-the-hip Noval IS the third cowboy, and no doubt Noval would take it as a compliment.

David Lazarowych, Business Edge
Greg Noval of Canadian Superior is leading the charge off Nova Scotia.

Noval has cultivated quite a reputation as the maverick of the oilpatch, but this gunslinger seems the friendliest of the three.

Noval is playing the good guy. He isn’t packing a six-shooter, just a broad smile in welcoming a stranger to his upstart company.

The blue-eyed sheik and owner of the Bar-N Ranch at Turner Valley normally dresses western but on this day, which he started by checking the cattle on the 7,500-acre spread that he calls home, Noval is sporting a dress shirt, tie and spit-polished black dress shoes.

You see, the cowboy had a meeting with some eastern tenderfoots.

1. What was your boyhood dream?

“Just to grow up and make money because I didn’t have much when I was a kid. I also always wanted to own a farm. Now, I’ve got several. My dad died when I was quite young so I grew up on my grandfather’s farm near Innisfail. My mother raised me. She was a legal secretary.”

2. Did your farming background come in handy as you pursued a career in the oil business?

“I knew a lot of farmers who had mineral rights, so I was able to compete fairly aggressively in leasing land when I got out of university. I could talk to the guys I knew and tell them to sell to me because I would pay them more. Before long, I had quite a trap line. From 1981 to 1988 when I was a private company (GNE Enterprises), it (doing business) was somewhat like shooting ducks on the pond. I’d be able to negotiate leases with people who were friends and who were practically in my backyard. I started my private business in the basement of a little house in Innisfail with $100 that I loaned myself for a deposit on a phone. I had a phone, a little Toyota truck, a lease book and I went out and leased land with money I didn’t have.”

3. Do you remember your first deal for a property?

“I traded a dozen vials of prized bull semen for a farmer’s lease. Bob Lamond, who ran the company that had the land, wasn’t too happy when we went in there and took possession of the lease. We did that during Stampede week. They had a well and we ended up with it. I viewed that as sort of taking from the rich and giving to the poor. We didn’t exactly win friends and influence people with that deal. That kind of kick-started some fairly lucrative action because I got a free well.”

4. Describe your business philosophy.

“It’s to make money for those who work with me, whether it’s our staff or joint venture partners. We’re obviously fair but firm. In business, you don’t give anything away. You gotta be on your toes. It’s a big world out there and there’s lots of wolves and sharks. And I’d rather do the eatin’ than be eaten. I mean, that’s just as simple as it gets. Having said that, we’ve also tried to support the community. I gave $1 million to charity one year after we had a big payday when we made a whole bunch of money on a takeover. But I doubt if I’ll break J.C. Anderson’s record (donation of $11 million in oil and gas shares to the Calgary Foundation). That old bird’s the master.”

5. What’s been the key to your success in the oilpatch?

“Over the years, I’ve had very loyal people. It’s better having smart people around you than being smart yourself. I learned that from Jack Gallagher (the legendary Calgary oil executive). Jack always said, ‘brains was the cheapest investment.’ When you pay people well, you get top people. When you hang out with guys like Gallagher, some of that has to rub off.”

6. What’s the current major focus of Canadian Superior?

“A big concentration is on the east coast (offshore Nova Scotia). That’s our big play. We’re actually now the sixth largest (property) owner offshore. Everybody in front of us has about a $10 billion market cap. That’s basically going to be the most exciting basin in 2002. We’re going to drill about seven major deep-water wells that will light this place up in the next 12 to 18 months.

"Hopefully, we can hit one of the big home runs there. Thanks to (Superior chairman) Don Axford, we were able to get in early in Nova Scotia.”

7. What are your recollections of your acquaintance with former prime minister Pierre Trudeau?

“When I first met him, at the Paris airport, I gave him a picture (of a Canadian flag with a backdrop of the Rockies, taken from the Turner Valley ranch house). There’s a book on Trudeau that shows a picture in his office and he had that picture I gave him on his mantel. He was very much misunderstood, I think, in Western Canada. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here (in the oilpatch) today.

"There are a lot of oil guys who would owe him but never acknowledge the contribution he made by getting people to invest. He put in the petroleum incentive program (a grant program) about the time I was getting started. Prior to that, Canadians didn’t invest in drilling. When I was in Montreal, I’d go into his law office. If he was in, he’d see me. Maybe that was because I was the only westerner that ever said anything positive to him.”

8. What were the circumstances behind your departure from Canadian 88 Energy after you founded and built that company in 1999?

“I brought Duke Energy in to invest $50 million in the company. As a result of that, they wanted their own guy to run the company.”

9. As a shareholder of Canadian 88, what’s your view of the way the company is being run now?

“Obviously, I have mixed feelings, but I really don’t have any comment.”

10. How do you feel about Canadian 88’s rejection of Canadian Superior’s bid earlier this year to take your former company over for $600 million?

“I’m not in a position to comment because we’ve done quite a comprehensive settlement (of lawsuits). Just look at our stock price ($1.66, down 33 cents from a year high of $1.99) versus their stock price ($1.85, down $2.73 from a year high of $4.58).”

11. When you’re referred to as a maverick CEO, is that a compliment?

“Well, I guess it is. I don’t mind it. There are lots of mavericks, guys like J.C. Anderson. I guess that (reputation) comes from doing things other guys didn’t do. When we (at Canadian 88) drilled in the foothills five years ago, only Shell and Amoco were doing it. We became the leading foothills driller by well count. Now we’re leadin’ the charge in Nova Scotia and people are saying: ‘Who are these guys?’ But you’ve got to be there early. What do they call a reporter who gets the story first? Is he a maverick or is he just quicker on the draw?”

12. Is winning everything?

“No. In sports, it doesn’t bother me if I don’t win the game. I don’t think it’s the end-all, be-all. I like having fun doing it and the oil business is fun.”

13. What’s your strength as a CEO?

“I don’t know if I got any (laughing). I’m not smarter than a lot of guys in this town, ya know. But I’m able to skate on the ice. I get knocked down once in a while, but I keep gettin’ up. I think I can spot talent. And we react. We had some guys here this week and offered them a deal that would choke a horse. I said: ‘Do we got the deal or no?’ They said: ‘Well, we’re talkin’ to Talisman and this other company and we don’t have the paper yet.’ I said: ‘Well, they’re a big company, it takes them time to react.’ I try to make sure we got cash because cash gives you the ability to react. It’s called zapping power.”

14. What’s the most important lesson this business has taught you?

“Rule one is you always control and operate everything if you can. You never give up control. You just don’t. If you operate a well or a project, you drive it. If you don’t operate it, you end up sittin’. You’re a follower instead of a leader.”

15. God taps you on the shoulder and says you can change one thing?

“(Tongue in cheek) Maybe I would’ve just practised law and not had all the frustrations of the oilpatch. Maybe I’d have 10 wives. If I had 10 like the one I’ve got (Valerie), I’d consider myself blessed.”

16. How important is money to you?

“It’s important. But once you’ve got so much, it doesn’t really matter. I’ve seen my stock investment go down and I’ve seen it go up. You obviously feel better when it’s up. Canadian Superior’s done very well. But you can’t take it with you. Health is more important than money. If you see people ill, you count your blessings and the money doesn’t matter anymore because it can’t fix anything. As far as the money goes, I don’t like to say what I’m worth because you never want to forget where you came from. If you come from a humble past, you always want to remain humble.”

17. What do you see yourself doing in the next decade?

“My objective is to retire in about three years when I’m 49. I think we’ll be able to do it off Superior because I think we’ll hit one or two of these monster structures off of Nova Scotia.”

18. Why would you retire so early?

“It kind of goes back to my philosophy that you can’t take it with ya. I think the biggest mistake oilmen make is that too many of them believe their own bull. They forget about some of the more important things in life. I really like the agriculture side (cattle business). I think it’s a more honest business because I think, although nobody will say it, everyone in the oilpatch is out to screw each other.”

19. How would you spend your retirement?

“I’d like to enjoy my family a little more and enjoy the fruits of my labour. I also like guiding people hunting so that they never get anything. I’m the worst guide.”

20. What’s missing from your life?

“I think I’m blessed. We’ve got a great office, great people and a great view. Still, you always want more. You want a bigger oil find and you want a bigger ranch. If you don’t have anythin’, you want somethin’. If you got somethin’, you want more. That’s just human nature. But I’m completely content with what I’ve got.”

IN PROFILE: Greg Noval

*Born/raised/age: Innisfail, Alta; 46.
* Title: President/CEO, Canadian Superior Energy.
* Family: Wife Valerie, daughters Sasha, 6, Kerilee, 8, Shelby, 11, Katie, 13.
* Education: University of Alberta, Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Arts (economics); University of Saskatchewan, Bachelor of Law.
* Career: Prior to founding Canadian Superior Energy, Noval was president and CEO of Canadian 88 Energy, which he founded in 1988 with $200,000 seed money and built into a $750-million company during his tenure. During 16 years in the energy industry, Noval has worked in various capacities with other companies, including Imperial Oil and Hudson’s Bay Oil & Gas. He also runs 1,600 cow/calf pairs at his three ranches in the Alberta foothills, totalling 27,000 acres, including the Bar-N Ranch & Cattle Co. at Turner Valley.
* Passions: Hunting, fishing, western art.

THE COMPANY: Canadian Superior Energy

* Brass: Greg Noval, president/CEO; Don Axford, chairman; Richard Watkins, vice-president, corporate development.
* Profile: Canadian Superior is an energy company engaged in exploration and production of oil and natural gas in Western Canada and offshore Nova Scotia. The company has recently positioned itself as a major player in the world-class Scotian Shelf offshore gas play. Canadian Superior was created as a spinout of Canadian 88 Energy.
* Numbers: Superior boasted net income of $8,883,551 (23 cents a share) for the first six months of 2001.
* Recent stock price (SNG-TSE): $1.66 (year range, .72-$1.99).
* Website: www.cansup.com
* Address: 3300, 400 3rd Ave. S.W., Calgary, AB. T2P 4H2.
* Phone/Fax: 294-1411, 216-2374.