UPDATE 2-First Calgary wins shareholder vote delay on CEO ouster

(Recasts with court judge's ruling, court proceedings)

By Jeffrey Jones

CALGARY, Alberta, April 7 (Reuters) - First Calgary Petroleums FCP.TO won a delay in a vote on a shareholder push to oust the company's chief executive after a judge ruled investors needed time to consider an 11th-hour show of support from Algeria's energy minister.

Dissident shareholders seeking to replace CEO Richard Anderson and elect a slate of directors for the company that is developing a large Algerian gas project will have to wait until April 18 for the vote, Alberta Justice Bruce McDonald ruled on Monday.

The meeting, the culmination of months of public sniping between 9.4 percent owner Waterford Finance and Investment Ltd and First Calgary, had been slated for Tuesday.

But the company, whose shares have been pressured by a failed sale process and delays in getting its only project developed, convinced McDonald that a letter it received Sunday from Algerian Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil supporting its position was a material development that could sway the vote.

Shareholders' interests "will be prejudiced unless they have full and complete information," First Calgary lawyer Dan McDonald told the judge.

Khelil wrote he was "deeply concerned" about the proposal to replace Anderson and said that he would "look negatively" at changes to First Calgary's management.

"Any delays to the development of the project would be harmful to the Sonatrach-FCP relationship," he said.

First Calgary has said often during the heated proxy battle that Anderson's longtime relationship with Algerian authorities is crucial to the project's eventual success.

Waterford has said Anderson is actually the reason why the company has not moved quicker with Algerian state oil firm Sonatrach to get the development to a commercial stage.

The dissident shareholder's lawyer, David Tupper, argued the letter appeared in line with First Calgary's frequent assertions and did not constitute the material change needed for an adjournment.

He also questioned the timing, pointing out it arrived two days after First Calgary determined the dissidents had already gained the votes of holders of 55 percent of the shares and two days before the meeting.

"We are dealing here with a case in which shareholder activism was successful," he said.

However, the judge ruled Khelil's comments had inherent credibility and were a significant enough development that investors may want the opportunity to reconsider.

First Calgary shares closed down 16 Canadian cents, or 6 percent, at C$2.61 on the Toronto Stock Exchange before the ruling late on Monday. That is down from their 2005 high of nearly C$25.

($1=$1.01 Canadian) (Reporting by Jeffrey Jones; editing by Kim Coghill)