Three decades in the oilpatch have done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of Ray Cej, one of the wily veterans of Calgary’s oil-and-gas fraternity.

“Today, we’re probably as bullish as we’ve ever been,” says the youthful-looking 58-year-old Cej (pronounced SAY).

Since ‘retiring’ from a 26-year career at Shell Canada in 1995, Cej has headed three companies in the oil and gas sector, including Anadime Corporation, which appointed him chief executive 13 months ago.

Cej’s road from Prince Albert, Sask., to the oilfields was anything but orthodox as he conveys in this interview.

1. So how does a boy from Prince Albert wind up a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Navy?

“I guess I was like a lot of people in Saskatchewan. They want to go into the navy because they don’t know better. But, really, my original intention was to get education through the Navy, as I was able to do.”

2. What was that experience like?

“Any time you get an opportunity to travel, it broadens your horizons. What I also learned is that I was prone to seasickness.”

3. So it wasn’t intended to be a long-term career?

“No, but when the oceans were calm, it was fantastic.”

4. What was your boyhood dream?

“I don’t know if I had a lot of dreams other than I really wanted to get out of Prince Albert and try my fortune elsewhere. It was a great place to grow up but, for me, it didn’t offer any kind of opportunity that I wanted to go after.”

5. One person you’ve admired the most?

“As a youngster, I remember John Diefenbaker (the former prime minister from Prince Albert). I admired the fact that he came from a small riding to do what he did. There was a great air about him. In the town, he was always seen as someone very substantial and a brilliant lawyer.”

6. Would you reflect on your 26 years at Shell Canada?

“It was a good place to work. I had a very broad range of experience there. I started on the gas side of the business, then the economics side of it. I spent time in refining, marketing and development.”

7. What accomplishment are you most proud of from your 30 years in the oilpatch?

“One of the things I enjoyed the most was being involved with Arakis Energy after Shell. It was a company with a tremendous amount of potential and a tremendous amount of issues (Arakis had a 25-per-cent stake in a major project in Sudan). I’ve always felt very good about the fact we were able to get good shareholder value when we sold the company (to Talisman Energy in 1998).”

8. What are your views of the controversy over Talisman’s involvement in the Sudan project with the Sudanese government and the human-rights issues?

“I think a lot of the criticism is probably correct. But it’s stale-dated. A lot of the people who find fault with Sudan relate back to the 1980s and early 1990s. This government has gone a long ways to change that. When you travel there, you get your own perspective.”

9. How would you describe your business philosophy?

“I think a company I like to have and work with is where the employees basically want to do the things that you want them to do because they want to do it.”

10. As CEO of a company involved in oilfield-waste management, are companies generally doing a good job in that area?

“On the Canadian side of the border, the answer is yes. I think it’s too easy for people to take shots at the industry on the environmental side. I think the strength in Canada, and particularly Alberta, is that we have a very knowledgeable regulatory board. As a person who cleans up wastes, I’d say we may have our gripes here and there but, basically, the industry does a good job.”

11. Are you disappointed with Anadime’s stock price (40-cent range)?

“I think Anadime’s had a couple of very tough years through ’98 and ’99. It’s gotten stronger this year.”

12. Why do you think investors aren’t enamoured by small-cap stocks in the oil-and-gas sector?

“I think we’re suffering the same problems as a lot of small-cap companies. If you can’t demonstrate liquidity and/or very solid growth, the market just doesn’t want to look at you. It really pushes the question as to whether you should be a public company or a private company.”

13. What’s the appeal of running a smaller company?

“There are a lot of things you do in small companies that you don’t get to do with larger companies because you’re segregated a little more. Here, you go out into the financial markets to raise money and there’s more of an importance in making decisions quickly because you don’t have the depth of expertise. I just think you get a better touch with doing business with smaller companies.”

14. What’s the greatest business lesson you’ve learned?

“Once you get the knowledge, a reasonable amount of knowledge about the business you’re in, you should go with your instincts.”

15. Is that what you’ve done?

“There were times when I would have liked to have had a little bit more of the courage of my convictions so I could have acted a little quicker. So, when I look back, that’s what I’ve learned. It’s a little bit of a criticism of myself.”

16. What’s your ideal day away from work?

“I like to play a little golf. My wife (Margot) is a good golfer, so I have to keep at it so I can beat her the odd time. I like to read history books about people like (Sir Winston) Churchill. And I spend time with my grandkids.”

17. Are you a fan of the rapid advances in technology?

“I see no reason why it should slow down. I don’t think people always understand — and I sure as hell don’t — all the implications of communication technology and the expectations it creates for people who don’t have what we have. I think that’s putting a lot of pressure on a whole lot of countries to keep pace and what that’s doing is putting more pressure on the demand for energy.”

18. How is the oil and gas industry doing in terms of maximizing available technology?

“I think what’s really interesting about it is that Canadians have been greater leaders than a lot of people think. We really do offer a very cost-effective, one-stop shopping for this industry internationally. We don’t always sell that effectively. The only weakness I can think of is the Canadian ability to export technology. We probably don’t have the same kind of financial structures for companies to do foreign business. Canadian banks are just not as supportive as U.S. banks in this respect. Other than that, technology in Canada, I think, in our industry is as good as anywhere in the world by a longshot.”

19. What are the prospects looking like for Anadime?

“I think this coming year is going to be an opportunity year. It’s going to be tied to our ability to finance, but I think we’ve got more opportunities than we’re capable of handling. The past year has been a bit of a learning year for me.”

20. Are you as keen as ever?

“Sure, I enjoy this. It’s different (with an oilfield-service company). Each time I’ve gone to a small company, I’ve learned something different.”

IN PROFILE: Ray Cej

* Born/Raised/Age: Prince Albert, Sask.; 58.
* Title: CEO/president, Anadime Corporation.
* Family: Wife, Margot.
* Education: Royal Military College of Canada (chemical engineering degree), California Institute of Technology (masters of engineering).
* Resume: Worked in several capacities in 26 years with Shell Canada, retiring as senior operating officer in 1995; has since been CEO of Kyrgoil Corporation (1996-98), Arakis Energy (1998) and Anadime.
* Claim to fame: Led the team that won the bid to host the World Petroleum Congress in Calgary in 2000 and was co-chair of the Canadian organizing committee for the event.
* Passions: Golf, skiing, history books, travel.

THE COMPANY: Anadime Corporation

* Brass: Ray Cej, CEO/president; Owen Pinnell, managing director; Karim Hirji, vice-president, finance/CFO; Robert McCuaig, vice-president, business development/regulatory affairs.
* Profile: Anadime is an oilfield-services company focused on liquid-waste management. Its roots lie in petroleum-waste management, although it also has an industrial-waste management business in California. The company operates seven oilfield-waste management sites (five in Canada, two in the U.S.) and a non-hazardous waste disposal facility and transportation service in California.
* Stock price (AEM-TSE): .41 (year range, .20-.65).
* Web site:www.anadime.com
* Address: #430, 1015 4th St. S.W., T2R 1J4.
* Phone/Fax: 777-4310, 777-4321.