Trap Oil raises £4.3m in share placing

By PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 07/06/2012 09:53

Trap Oil, the Aim-quoted explorer that bought Banchory-based Reach Oil & Gas last year for £30 million, has raised £4.3m through a share placing.

Cash raised through the placing will be used to fund the proposed acquisition of a stake in the Trent East licence, applications for the UK government’s 27th exploration licence round and other drilling opportunities.

The company refused to name the investors with which the shares had been placed, but said that the placing had been conducted by FirstEnergy and Mirabaud.

Mark Groves Gidney, chief executive at Trap Oil, said: “We are pleased with the interest and support received from both existing and new investors in Trapoil in very difficult market conditions.

“The net proceeds from this conditional fundraising, which has been restricted to the amount for which approval was received at the recent AGM, will allow the company to pursue opportunities where we can become an operator but also to grow and enhance our exploration portfolio via potential investment in new licence awards from the 27th round, with results currently expected to be announced by the Department of Energy & Climate Change later this year.”

In March, Trap bought a 15 per cent stake in the Athena development from Dyas for £34.5m. Athena is operated by Ithaca Energy.