AU$9.9 Million Capital Raising
Sydney, Feb 6, 2012 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Central Petroleum Ltd (
ASX:CTP) ("Central" or "Company") advises that it has completed the issue of the Share Purchase Plan ("SPP") shares to existing shareholders in addition to completing a top-up placement ("Placement") of 50 million new Central shares at 5.5 cents per share to institutional, sophisticated and professional investors. In total the SPP and Placement raised $9.9 million before costs.
The funds raised in the placement are to provide the Company with additional working capital towards funding the planned ongoing appraisal of the Surprise prospect oil discovery located in the Amadeus Basin which will involve an Extended Production Test (EPT), 3D seismic and additional drilling. The EPT is planned to commence in April and the timing of 3D seismic and further drilling to be finalised shortly.
The placement was managed by Patersons Securities Limited.
Settlement of the placement is scheduled to occur on 9 February 2012 and the new shares are expected to be quoted on that date.
Following the completion of initial flow testing at the Surprise-1 RE H well the Hunt Rig #3 was released and is stacked on site pending a determination of drilling plans going forward.
The Company is evaluating alternative scenarios for the lifting, transportation and sale of the oil produced during the EPT which may last up to six months or more pending flow stabilisation and possible application for a Production Licence. Work is underway to obtain the necessary permits and regulatory approvals with the Company expecting to finalise and announce a sales contract for the oil produced during the EPT in the coming weeks.
About Central Petroleum Limited
Central Petroleum Limited (
ASX:CTP) is a well-established, and emerging ASX-listed Australian oil and gas producer. In our short history, Central has grown to become the largest onshore gas producer in the Northern Territory (NT), supplying industrial customers and senior gas distributors in NT and the wider Australian east coast market.
Central is positioned to become a significant domestic energy supplier, with exploration and development plans across 180,000 km2 of tenements in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including some of Australia's largest known onshore conventional gas prospects. Central has also completed an MoU with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) to progress the proposed Amadeus to Moomba Gas Pipeline to a Final Investment Decision.
We are also seeking to develop the Range gas project, a new gas field located among proven CSG fields in the Surat Basin, Queensland with 135 PJ (net to Central) of development-pending 2C contingent resource.
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