Empyrean Energy Plc (LON:EME) told investors that it expects to advance its Chinese exploration project in the coming weeks and months.
The AIM quoted oil and gas firm today noted it had received from escrow the final US$2.6mln tranche of cash proceeds from its US asset disposal.
Looking ahead, the company said it is continuing negotiations with both international and domestic contractors for a 3D seismic programme in China, at the conventional Pearl River Mouth Basin project, and it said the talks are progressing well.
The company said it hopes to finalise contracts in the coming weeks, with a view to starting the programme in the second quarter.
It plans to target a 500 square kilometre area with a view to identifying drill locations for two key exploration prospects, Jade and Topaz. A further ten exploration leads that warrant exploration have also been mapped.
Empyrean highlights that the exploration project is about 200 kilometres south of Hong Kong, and is directly south of a large producing field.