Deltic Energy PLC (AIM:DELT) confirmed the close of its open offer, raising £960,000 through the sale of shares to existing shareholders.
The open offer was priced on the same terms as Deltic’s recently completed equity placing and altogether the company has brought in £15.96mln of new capital.
Funds raised in the placing are earmarked for the drilling of the second exploration well slated in Deltic’s North Sea partnership with Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL).
"I am very pleased to report that, subject to shareholder approval, we will have raised funding of approximately £16mln, which is an excellent result for the company and means that the company is funded for both Selene and Pensacola [wells],” said chief executive Graham Swindells.
“We are very grateful to our shareholders for their continued support and we are excited about the next phase of our development, particularly as we are about to drill our first well with Shell on the Pensacola gas prospect."
The Pensacola well is being drilled in the coming weeks, targeting a 309bn cubic feet (BCF) gas resource.
Success in the well could lead to the development of a significant new source of gas to the UK and as such has been highly anticipated by the industry.
Selene, the next Shell well on Deltic’s docket, is estimated to contain 318 BCF of gas and could be drilled within the next 12-18 months.
Deltic has a 30% interest in Pensacola and 50% of Selene, meanwhile, it has a separate portfolio of exploration prospects in partnership with Capricorn Energy (formerly Cairn).