The gas commander
But what exactly is this man with a forty-year career behind him (a career that has taken him to Libya, Kuwait, Colombia, Norway and back again to the UK) now doing in Poland at a time when he could be happily retired at his home in Cornwall, treating his nine grandchildren to an occasional cream tea?
What Hardman did for the United Kingdom is what he is now doing in Poland: hunting for natural gas. Hardman believes that Poland's prospects for new finds of natural gas are great; this man is here because he has made a career of proving himself right, and he still enjoys the exercise.
"It's a fascinating game, and a fascinating challenge," says Hardman, "I have a feeling we will find big gas reserves here, and I will do everything to make sure that this happens." His ambition is to find a single field the size of his big finds in the North Sea.
This could contribute to a massive increase in current Polish domestic production, and Hardman believes that thanks to the new ideas that he and his colleagues are bringing to Poland, several such finds are possible.
Hardman describes gas exploration as a casino with a difference. Each new drill for gas has risk and reward, but the more experience one has and the better the team one is working with, the lower the risk.
"I learnt from my experience at the Amerada Hess exploration company, from my former boss who is now at Chevron Texaco, that life is about 'sensible risk'," says Hardman. "If you fall off a cliff and get killed, nobody's going to thank you. But if you climb it, you're a hero."
In Poland, Hardman is taking a sensible risk. He has a life of such risks behind him, and he is with a team who know the play very well.
"I'm very fortunate in that my colleagues and I listen to each other," he says, "There is no dogmatism. This means that I might not always get my own way, but when I don't, it probably means it's for a good reason."
Hardman believes that in the world of oil and gas exploration, the management style and company culture of the largest companies such as British Petroleum (where he has many years of experience) have gotten in the way of progress. As a North Sea gas hunter, he found that he had to employ a great deal of lateral thinking in order to succeed. This included downplaying the size of gas fields that he had discovered, in order to convince a skeptical leadership.
"The difference about my work now is that I am in a small company again," says Hardman, "Each member of the team has his unique expertise to offer, we are close-knit and able to confer quickly and easily." He speaks of a wealth of know-how among Polish explorers, a know-how that he hopes to contribute to with his enthusiasm and worldwide experience.
Hardman is on the board of directors of FX Energy, the Nasdaq small cap firm with concessions in Poland. Last month, FX made a successful new gas find in Western Poland in cooperation with Cal Energy and the state-owned Polish Oil and Gas Company (POGC or PGNiG). Expected reward from the $3 million joint investment into the well is said to be twenty times expenditure.
Hardman joined the firm after the plan for the prospect had been drawn up, and is adding his input to a run of other prospects that the company is taking on throughout this year.
"FX are doing things in Poland that large and usually arrogant oil and gas firms would be incapable of doing," says Hardman, "Size matters. And in this case it pays to be small and it pays to be humble."
FX Energy has been successful at securing concessions from the POGC where other oil and gas companies have failed. Hardman and the rest of the FX Energy team are working in tandem with the Poles, a partnership that Hardman says would be less feasible, at this stage, for a world petroleum giant.
Hardman's discoveries in the North Sea, such as the fields of Valhall, Scott and South Arne helped Britain to transform itself from a de-industrializing post colonial power to a modern economy with a vital role in the European Union.
If and when a major discovery is made in Poland, it will offer a transformational injection of resources and revenue into the Polish economy.
Hardman believes that there is a lot at stake in the present reality of Polish gas exploration. "It's a good time for Poland to find gas," he says. EU membership, the decline of British gas reserves, "...which only have five years left before we feel the pinch," and the liberalization of the Polish economy are all aspects of Polish gas exploration that make him want to be involved.
He is also an Englishman who is enamored with Poland. "The Polish army won the Battle of Monte Cassino," says Hardman, "We have quite a history together."
"When I was twenty-seven, I was having one of the formative experiences of my life; I was mapping in Columbia for British Petroleum," says Hardman, "But my work now in Poland is much more interesting."
The interview with Hardman came to an end at a lobby bar of his Warsaw hotel. We shook hands, wished each other all the best and perhaps wished we hadn't drunk quite so much. A merry Hardman made his way to the elevator and a newsflash came on the television.
"Breaking News: Gazprom cuts off Belarus." It was February 18, and the Russian gas monopoly had stopped gas flows to Belarus and through Belarus to Poland and Germany. With 80 percent of Poland's gas needs still in the hands of the Russians, the realization of energy independence has never seemed so relevant.
The freedom of Poland, fought so long and hard for as Hardman recognizes, will only be complete when this country has energy independence as well as political independence. The arrival of men such as Hardman is crucial to the success of that process.
What Hardman did for the United Kingdom is what he is now doing in Poland: hunting for natural gas. Hardman believes that Poland's prospects for new finds of natural gas are great; this man is here because he has made a career of proving himself right, and he still enjoys the exercise.
"It's a fascinating game, and a fascinating challenge," says Hardman, "I have a feeling we will find big gas reserves here, and I will do everything to make sure that this happens." His ambition is to find a single field the size of his big finds in the North Sea.
This could contribute to a massive increase in current Polish domestic production, and Hardman believes that thanks to the new ideas that he and his colleagues are bringing to Poland, several such finds are possible.
Hardman describes gas exploration as a casino with a difference. Each new drill for gas has risk and reward, but the more experience one has and the better the team one is working with, the lower the risk.
"I learnt from my experience at the Amerada Hess exploration company, from my former boss who is now at Chevron Texaco, that life is about 'sensible risk'," says Hardman. "If you fall off a cliff and get killed, nobody's going to thank you. But if you climb it, you're a hero."
In Poland, Hardman is taking a sensible risk. He has a life of such risks behind him, and he is with a team who know the play very well.
"I'm very fortunate in that my colleagues and I listen to each other," he says, "There is no dogmatism. This means that I might not always get my own way, but when I don't, it probably means it's for a good reason."
Hardman believes that in the world of oil and gas exploration, the management style and company culture of the largest companies such as British Petroleum (where he has many years of experience) have gotten in the way of progress. As a North Sea gas hunter, he found that he had to employ a great deal of lateral thinking in order to succeed. This included downplaying the size of gas fields that he had discovered, in order to convince a skeptical leadership.
"The difference about my work now is that I am in a small company again," says Hardman, "Each member of the team has his unique expertise to offer, we are close-knit and able to confer quickly and easily." He speaks of a wealth of know-how among Polish explorers, a know-how that he hopes to contribute to with his enthusiasm and worldwide experience.
Hardman is on the board of directors of FX Energy, the Nasdaq small cap firm with concessions in Poland. Last month, FX made a successful new gas find in Western Poland in cooperation with Cal Energy and the state-owned Polish Oil and Gas Company (POGC or PGNiG). Expected reward from the $3 million joint investment into the well is said to be twenty times expenditure.
Hardman joined the firm after the plan for the prospect had been drawn up, and is adding his input to a run of other prospects that the company is taking on throughout this year.
"FX are doing things in Poland that large and usually arrogant oil and gas firms would be incapable of doing," says Hardman, "Size matters. And in this case it pays to be small and it pays to be humble."
FX Energy has been successful at securing concessions from the POGC where other oil and gas companies have failed. Hardman and the rest of the FX Energy team are working in tandem with the Poles, a partnership that Hardman says would be less feasible, at this stage, for a world petroleum giant.
Hardman's discoveries in the North Sea, such as the fields of Valhall, Scott and South Arne helped Britain to transform itself from a de-industrializing post colonial power to a modern economy with a vital role in the European Union.
If and when a major discovery is made in Poland, it will offer a transformational injection of resources and revenue into the Polish economy.
Hardman believes that there is a lot at stake in the present reality of Polish gas exploration. "It's a good time for Poland to find gas," he says. EU membership, the decline of British gas reserves, "...which only have five years left before we feel the pinch," and the liberalization of the Polish economy are all aspects of Polish gas exploration that make him want to be involved.
He is also an Englishman who is enamored with Poland. "The Polish army won the Battle of Monte Cassino," says Hardman, "We have quite a history together."
"When I was twenty-seven, I was having one of the formative experiences of my life; I was mapping in Columbia for British Petroleum," says Hardman, "But my work now in Poland is much more interesting."
The interview with Hardman came to an end at a lobby bar of his Warsaw hotel. We shook hands, wished each other all the best and perhaps wished we hadn't drunk quite so much. A merry Hardman made his way to the elevator and a newsflash came on the television.
"Breaking News: Gazprom cuts off Belarus." It was February 18, and the Russian gas monopoly had stopped gas flows to Belarus and through Belarus to Poland and Germany. With 80 percent of Poland's gas needs still in the hands of the Russians, the realization of energy independence has never seemed so relevant.
The freedom of Poland, fought so long and hard for as Hardman recognizes, will only be complete when this country has energy independence as well as political independence. The arrival of men such as Hardman is crucial to the success of that process.
