Touchstone Exploration Inc (LSE:TXP, TSE:TXP) on Friday raised £3mln through the sale of shares to institutional investors in the United Kingdom.
The share placing prices the new equity at 11.5p per share, a 6.1% discount to yesterday’s closing price. Cash proceeds from the placing are earmarked for an expanded well drilling programme.
Touchstone previously lined up a four well programme for 2018 but that will now be expanded to ten wells. Additionally, the company also intends to carry out a programme of recompletions for 24 existing wells.
Hurricane Energy Plc (LON:HUR) told investors it has now hired executive search recruiter Spencer Stuart to source the company’s new chairman.
The UK offshore oil company said in a statement that once a new chairman is in place it will seek to appoint additional independent non-executive directors to the board in order to make it fully compliant with corporate governance guidelines.
Additionally, on the recommendation of the company’s Listing and Governance Committee, Hurricane has now engaged specialist shareholder engagement and corporate governance consultant, Boudicca Proxy, which will assist the evaluation and transition of the firm’s policies into line with ‘premium listed’ stock exchange companies.
Tullow Oil plc’s (LON:TLW) debt repayment is accelerating thanks to better oil prices and, according to Angus McCoss, the group’s deleveraging target could even be met over the next twelve months.
The oiler’s gearing peaked at around 5x earnings at the peak of the market cycle, and following recent refinancing efforts -a rights issue and a new reserves based lending facility – has so far brought it down to around 3.3x. Tullow’s stated deleveraging target sees the ratio reducing to 2.5x and, so long as crude remains at the current US$60 per barrel lev el, that marker could be reached during the next calendar year.
Echo Energy Plc (LON:ECHO) said progress continues to be made in advancing preparations for its proposed Argentinian farm-in deal, announced on November 1, with documentation at an advanced stage and there has been an extension to the closing date.
The South and Central American focused upstream gas company’s proposal is for a farm-in to 50% interests in each of the Fracción C, Fracción D and Laguna De Los Capones concessions and to a 50% interest in the Tapi Aike exploration permit, each located onshore in Argentina.
Green Dragon Gas Ltd (LON:GDG) detailed plans to spin-off its producing Chinese coal bed methane business which will IPO onto the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The group’s exploration and appraisal assets will remain within the London-listed vehicle, which will be debt-free post transaction, and will be renamed as G3 Exploration Limited.
Shareholders in Green Dragon will receive a stake in the new company via an in-specie dividend. Meanwhile, new investors in Hong Kong will also take equity with the IPO proceeds used to settle debt obligations.
Highlands Natural Resources Plc (LON:HNR) has seen oil and gas production from the Powell and Wildhorse wells at East Denver rise further. Oil and gas production from a month of flow-back testing has now stabilised at 1,771 barrels daily compared to 1,333 barrels reported last week.