25 July 2012, Sweetcrude, MONROVIA – AUSTRALIA’s African Petroleum Corporation says it will deploy the A$85 million (US$87.3 million) it raised in a new share placement to contracting an additional oil rig to develop its African assets.
According to the company, it has gotten firm commitments from institutional shareholders for 62,963,000 new fully paid ordinary shares at A$1.35 per share.
The placement was expected to be completed on Friday, following which African Petroleum would have 1,693,533,051 shares on issue and a market capitalisation of about A$2.3 billion.
The rig, which has been conditionally contracted, is planned to drill an appraisal well at Narina in the Liberian offshore LB-09 Block in September or October.
This drilling has been scheduled ahead of the previously contracted two-well programme with Ocean Rig’s semi-submersible Eirik Raude, due at the end of the year.
African Petroleum holds a 100% interest in the LB-08 and LB-09 blocks offshore Liberia.
It also holds interests in blocks in Sierra Leone, Senegal and the Ivory Coast, where various 3D seismic acquisition programmes have recently been undertaken.
