Tullow Oil plc (LON:TLW) told investors it has received acceptances for just over 95% of the new shares available in its £607mln (US$790mln) rights issue.
Existing shareholders have accepted their rights to some 444.9mln new shares, each priced at 130p.
The underwriters - Barclays, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley – will now seek buyers for the remaining 21.9mln new shares not picked up in the rights issue.
Tullow launched the rights issue in March. The funding is designed to ‘re-set’ the group’s finances and get its balance sheet ‘in order’.
The oiler says it has continued to generate free cash flow through the downturn and continued to repay debt, but, it has lost financial flexibility.
It earmarks some of the rights issue proceeds for investments in new drilling opportunities, further exploration and appraisal programmes around the Jubilee and TEN fields offshore Ghana.
Tullow also plans to invest in more exploration and appraisal activity in Kenya, to further build and prove up its resource base.
High impact, and potentially high return, drilling projects in Africa and South America will also be funded.