Cluff Natural Resources has raised nearly a million pounds to keep its North Sea operations going through the end of the year.
The firm placed a total of 58,171,200 new ordinary shares at 0.5 pence each to raise £727,000.
A company spokesperson said: “The directors expect that the placing will fund the company through to the end of financial year for 2016 and the net proceeds to be utilised to carry out further geological and technical work to enhance the company’s existing portfolio of Southern North Sea gas licences, to attract investment and strategic partners to enable drilling of exploration and appraisal wells and to apply for additional licences in the UK’s 29th licencing round which is due to be announced shortly.”
The firm also today confirmed it was looking to balance its portfolio of oil and gas licences by acquiring more North Sea licences “in line with its investing policy”.
Chief executive and chairman Algy Cluff said: “The funds raised will allow us to continue to unlock the potential value of our growing portfolio of oil and gas assets.
“This follows our recently signed Heads of Terms to acquire up to a 25% participating interest in three Parkmead-operated licences for £1, demonstrating the significant opportunities available in the current oil price environment.
“This is especially evident considering these licences are effectively drill ready and have been estimated by the operator to contain 400 million barrels, gross, of recoverable oil in aggregate.
“This acquisition complements our existing portfolio of five licences in the Southern North Sea which have a prospective resource of 845 BCF which we are developing in collaboration with Halliburton, one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry.
“I look forward to providing further updates in due course as we continue to source potential partners with a view to drilling exploration and appraisal wells.”
Last month, Cluff confirmed it had signed a head of terms with Verus Petroleum Limited and Verus Petroleum Limited to acquire a 25% interest in three licences in the Central North Sea and Moray Firth.
