Tower Resources PLC (AIM:TRP, FRA:ULF1) has raised £1.5 million of new funding to repay a bridge loan as it approaches long-awaited farm-out approvals in Cameroon and Namibia, which could clear the way for the group’s next operational steps in both markets.
The AIM-listed Africa-focused oil and gas company said Cameroon’s state oil company SNH has told it it will recommend both a one-year extension of the Thali licence to March 2027 and approval for Prime Global Energies to acquire a 42.5% stake in the licence, though Tower is still waiting for written confirmation. The Prime Minister’s office has told the company it is convening a meeting with MINMIDT and SNH to bring the process to a conclusion.
In Namibia, Tower said approval of Prime’s proposed acquisition of a 25% interest in PEL96 will now be expedited following talks with the newly formed Upstream Petroleum Unit and ministry representatives. NAMCOR has completed its due diligence on Prime and is waiting for further documents relating to Tower’s local partner.
Chairman and chief executive Jeremy Asher said the company still hopes to drill the NJOM-3 well in Cameroon this year, ideally in the third quarter, subject to rig schedules.
"We are very pleased to be approaching the end of the process to receive our farm-out approvals, lengthy as it has been. We had wanted to have these concluded before the repayment date of the Bridge Loan, and it is possible that the documentation of one or both approvals may indeed be in hand by then, but we did not want to allow the potential repayment date to loom too close," Asher said.
Alongside the project update, Tower noted it is issuing 6.32 billion new shares at 0.02375p each, a roughly 5% discount to the previous closing bid price, with most of the proceeds going toward repayment of its £1 million convertible bridge loan plus accrued interest.