John F. Terwilliger, president and chairman of Houston American Energy, stated:-“The first three months of this year were very difficult for most energy companies and Houston American Energy was no exception. As a result of depressed commodity prices, our operator in South America made the determination to temporarily shut in our production which resulted in no oil being sold from February 13, 2009 to April 4, 2009 and, in turn, a steep drop in our revenues and profitability.”
“Production has since been restored and, as a result, revenues can be expected to rise significantly in the second quarter over the first quarter of 2009. Management believes that this temporary shut in was a one time event, and that cost cutting measures implemented in the field will increase our profitability going forward.”
“While depressed commodity prices hurt our operating performance during the quarter, we see opportunities to capitalize on our sound financial condition and low overhead to grow our asset base through acquisition of assets and operations at historically low prices. Our management team is actively pursuing opportunities in this depressed market for oil and gas assets and is hopeful there will be results of this effort in the near term. “
“In view of the restoration of production and the board of directors- confidence in the outlook for Houston American Energy, a dividend of $.005 per share has been declared for shareholders of record as of May 27, 2009 with a payment date of June 11, 2009. This dividend is a reduction from the last quarter when $.02 was paid.”
“The board of directors believes in our policy of providing shareholders with a cash return and found no reason to allow one quarter’s results to alter this policy. By reducing the amount of the dividend, the Board believes we can support our goal of providing a cash return to investors while also pursuing our goal of capitalizing on favorable opportunities to invest resources in the acquisition of assets and operations.”
