North Sea oil firm Sterling Resources has announced a £7.3million bridging loan and it hopes to agree a larger debt facility this month.
Sterling, which has offices in Rubislaw Den North in Aberdeen, said the backing secured from a subsidiary of energy trading company Vitol would be used to cover exploration costs off Romania.
The new facility will also help towards corporate costs in Canada, where Sterling is listed, and loan repayments related to Romanian exploration.
Sterling said the loan could be paid back after a larger private financing deal, expected to be agreed this month.
The larger loan would also help Sterling cover the costs of the UK North Sea Breagh gas field development, which has been beset by delays and cost overruns.
Sterling said it was working to refinance its current loan for fist phase development of Breagh during the next few months.