Trap Oil could run out of cash next month

North Sea explorer Trap Oil is “urgently” considering a range of options, including the sale of licence stakes, as it seeks to ward off collapse.

The firm warned in April that it was poised to run out of cash as a result of “depressed” oil prices, and yesterday said it was in talks with potential investors, but “there can be no certainty that a viable funding solution will be forthcoming”.

In a statement issued after its share price more than doubled on Thursday, Trap said: “The directors continue to believe that, absent a viable funding solution, the company currently only has adequate working capital to support its activities until early July.”

Trap’s only producing asset is the Athena oil field, in which it has a 15 per cent stake, but shares were given a boost recently after it said work had started on the Niobe prospect in the inner Moray Firth.