Rift Oil PLC, the oil and gas exploration company with assets
in Papua New Guinea, announces a proposed placing to raise £11m.
The Proposed Placing
- Raising £11m (before expenses)
- Placing of up to 293,333,333 New Ordinary Shares at 3.75p per share
- The funds raised will be used to seek to prove up reserves within
PPL 235 to increase the prospect of commercialising this discovery
Background to the Placing
- Rift, founded in November 2004, to acquire interests in oil and gas
exploration licences in Papua New Guinea, floated on AIM in April 2006
- In March 2007 Rift signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Alcan South Pacific (“ASP”). The MOU sets out the activity to further investigate the supply of approximately 800 BCF of natural gas over 20 years to ASP’s Gove Refinery in the Northern Territory of Australia.
- This work programme is expected to be completed by mid 2008 and aims to provide sufficient information for the parties to proceed to a binding agreement to supply natural gas to Gove.
- Two wells have been drilled on PPL 235 – both have found gas
- Report dated 18 July 2007 estimates an average total resource potential of 798 BCF on prospects.
Nominated Adviser and Broker to Rift is RBC Capital Markets
Ian Gowrie-Smith, Chairman of Rift, commented :
"To date, the Board has been exceptionally encouraged by the progress we have made especially since our flotation on AIM in April 2006. Rift has experienced success with test drilling on the prospects with significant potential reserves. These funds will enable us to confirm the likelihood of sufficient gas reserves to the Gove Refinery under the terms of the MOU signed in March with Alcan South Pacific and take us closer to the commercialisation of these exciting prospects."