Strategy

NuVista’s business plan is to deliver profitable growth to our shareholders over the long term under varying business conditions.

WE EMPLOY AN ACQUIRE AND DEVELOP BUSINESS MODEL
NuVista’s acquire and develop business model allows us to add new core areas and new area teams as we grow. The new area teams allow us to improve our ability to internally generate new drilling prospects and identify new opportunities. Our teams work within our core areas to create shareholder value through exploration and development. We have demonstrated our ability to acquire production and turn it into a core area by adding undeveloped land, facility infrastructure, seismic, and development drilling.

Through the business combination with Rider, we have established four new cores areas that give us substantial exposure to areas in the deep basin. In these areas, initial decline rates on new wells are high but moderate over time, and the more mature wells continuously reward ownership with improved performance and positive reserve revisions.

By acquiring and drilling in these new areas, as well as our existing areas, we will be able to offset high initial well declines with more mature production additions from acquisitions creating a more even and manageable growth profile. By understanding the performance of our production base, we will be able to provide guidance to our stakeholders and make prudent business decisions.

WE MAINTAIN A DISCIPLINED APPROACH
We apply our technical and operating expertise within our core areas with a disciplined approach based on seven principles:

• Focus on core areas, establish technical expertise in these areas;
• Operate our production;
• Hold a high working interest;
• Attract and retain a talented team;
• Maintain a low cost structure;
• Control the business plan and be opportunity driven; and
• Use strategic alliances to maintain financial flexibility.

By focusing in a core area, our team members become experts in identifying opportunities. Over time, this intimate knowledge enables us to extract maximum value from the asset. Our goal is to operate with a high working-interest ownership. This enables us to control the timing and pace of development, minimize costs, shorten the cycle time from idea generation to cash flow, and accurately forecast the results of our efforts.

We enforce stringent cost controls to maintain our financial flexibility throughout the commodity price cycles. We believe that stewardship of our capital spending over the long-term is the single biggest factor in our ability to grow profitably. We know that financial flexibility can enable a company to capitalize on the inevitable acquisition opportunities that occur at the bottom of the commodity price cycle and we are well positioned to capture those opportunities.

WE CAN ATTRACT AND RETAIN TALENTED TEAMS
We have created a team based organization in which operational and technical excellence and idea generation are encouraged. Each of our core areas has a multi-disciplined team that is self-motivated and empowered to develop their ideas. As we add each new core area, we add to our talented teams. They are all rewarded with an ownership stake in NuVista, closely aligning their interests with those of our shareholders. The experience, idea generation, and dedication of our team members is an integral part of our continued success.

Together, they concentrate their efforts in our core areas, where we can achieve a dominant land position, operate and control infrastructure, and therefore manage costs, as well as discourage encroachment by competitors.

WE HAVE A PROVEN TRACK RECORD
Time and again, NuVista has proven the success of its acquire and develop business model. Since inception in July 2003, our production and reserves have grown – on a per-share basis – at compound annual growth rates of over 30% and 40%, respectively. This performance has been accomplished while maintaining a top quartile operating cost structure.

March 2008

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NuVista creates and sustains profitable per share growth through an acquire and develop business model that employs a disciplined approach with prudent management of controllable costs.

We have a concentrated asset base and technical teams in place to deliver balanced growth by investing capital in shallow gas, deep gas, heavy oil, and acquisitions.