LETTERS TO THE EDITOR — Simon Fraser will be missed

Simon Fraser died recently while riding his horse on his beloved grounds in Scotland.

I met Simon for the first time during the second half of the sixties. We were both involved in a fund investing in mining and oil shares. At that time, Simon, although in his late twenties, was the mining and oil adviser to Hambros Bank. In a remarkably short period, he had become a friend and confidant of many of the corporate chieftains in the mining and oil sectors, several of whom joined the board of our fund.

In the early 1970s, Simon backed me when I founded what is today Gulfstream Resources Canada. The only asset of Gulfstream was a hydrocarbon concession offshore of Quatar. This led, in 1976, to the discovery of the huge North Field which is today considered to be the largest accumulation of gas in the world.

Simon was a man with an incredible vision. To him, natural gas was a fuel for the future because of its abundance and cleanliness. Simon did not live to see the commercial development of Gulfstream’s concession over Quatar’s North Field. However, several future generations will benefit from it; and without Simon’s enthusiasm, the field may never have been discovered. Simon was not the normal company man. He did not participate in official corporate reunions. However, some of the most important meetings I ever had were with Simon when we were high up in the Alps or skiing down some glacier. Up there he gave the best advice and it was always optimistic, supportive and immensely constructive.

Over the years, we had a few significant disagreements about our resource ventures. It was never personal, however, and it was always a joy to re-establish contact sooner rather than later.

Exploration, the cutting edge of the natural resource industry, has lost more than an enthusiastic and intelligent supporter. A natural resource in itself has been lost.

Adolf Lundin

Geneva, Switzerland