Bula frustration in Iraq, Libya causes it to pay visits elsewhere

BULA, the troubled exploration company, will look at fresh opportunities outside Libya and Iraq where its efforts to win licences appear to have been frustrated.

Mr Albert Reynolds, who stepped up from chairman to executive chairman last month, said in a statement yesterday: "Involvement in other countries in the region would be of benefit and, to this end, I will be visiting other agreed areas of interest." Mr Reynolds told shareholders he had recently returned from Algeria "where opportunities may become available to the company". The former Taoiseach was not available for comment yesterday but a spokesman for the company said it did not believe that any conflict of interest now arose between Mr Reynolds's role as chairman of Bula and his chairmanship of LETH, another company also interested in exploration and production opportunities in Algeria. LETH, according to filings lodged with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States, has credit lines of $450 million (#488 million) in place to fund its hydrocarbon exploration and production programme. The company has committed $150 million of these funds to pursuing opportunities in Algeria. Mr Reynolds has previously said there was no conflict of interest between his two roles and that he has made the board of Bula aware of his involvement in LETH. Bula had not previously expressed a public interest in opportunities in Algeria. There was no word for shareholders yesterday on the appointment of a new chief executive to replace Mr John Hogan, who resigned last month. A non-executive director, Mr Eonuh Rhee, also resigned after an unsuccessful attempt to get Mr Reynolds to step down. Mr Reynolds said yesterday that he and the board - which has only two other members - regretted that Mr Hogan's appointment did not work out. A successor to Mr Hogan will be appointed in due course, said Mr Reynolds, who added that he would be "playing a prominent role in leading Bula's discussions in Iraq, Libya and other areas of interest". Negotiations with the Iraqi government over exploration and development opportunities continued and discussions with possible joint venture partners in Libya were ongoing, he said.