Orcadian Energy has raised gross proceeds of £350,000 through the issue of 2,916,666 new ordinary shares of the Company at a price per New Ordinary Share of £0.12. These funds are raised as part of a direct subscription with the Company with new investors. The subscription price represents a discount of approximately 14% to the closing mid-price of an ordinary share in the Company on 29 September 2023, being the latest practicable day prior to the publication of this announcement.
The proceeds will be applied to ongoing working capital, the costs involved in the progressing the proposed farm-in agreements as announced on 18 September 2023 and the repayment of certain creditors. The Company will need to raise further funds in the near term to continue to progress its activities and further updates will be provided in due course.
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, and it is expected that dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence on or around 5 October 2023. The New Ordinary Shares will be issued fully paid and will rank pari passu to the Company's existing ordinary shares.
Immediately following Admission, the Company's issued share capital will be 75,428,983 Ordinary Shares, with each share carrying the right to one vote. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. The total voting rights figure immediately following Admission, of 75,428,983 may be used by shareholders (and others with notification obligations) as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Steve Brown, Orcadian's CEO, said:
'We are delighted to welcome our new investors on board. Though more funding was made available to the Company from other groups, we are continuing to minimise Company overheads whilst seeking to add value per share. As a Company we also remain very cognisant of keeping shareholder dilution to a minimum. These funds will enable us to progress the proposed farm-in deal that we announced as well as helping us unlock the inherent value we have always believed is in the Company for our shareholders.
'We look forward to providing updates on the proposed farm-in to the Pilot Project and the outcome of our applications in the 33rd Offshore Licensing Round.'
33rd Licencing Round
As announced on 19 January 2023, the Company made three licence applications, two in partnership with other companies and one on its own. One of the applications builds upon Orcadian's viscous oil experience whilst the other two applications are focused on gas opportunities, including a potential gas-to-wire project on an appraised discovery, with integrated carbon capture, which could deliver baseload electricity with minimal emissions. Early stage indications suggest that, net to Orcadian, the P50 sales gas resource applied for, across the two gas focused applications, could amount to 114 bcf (billion cubic feet) in a discovery, 153 bcf in a near drill-ready prospect and 377 bcf in leads and less mature prospects. However, these are management estimates of resources, are based upon seismic and well log data, are as presented to the NSTA in the Licence Applications, and are provided here for guidance purposes only.
The Company anticipates that it will hear as to whether its licence applications have been successful during fourth quarter 2023 and a further announcement will be made when NSTA publish the results of the round.
Source: Ocadian Energy
