NGE to raise A$18.5mil

NEW Guinea Energy (NGE), an Australian company exploring for oil and gas in PNG,  has reached agreement to raise A$18.5 million (K45.59 milllion)  to continue its exploration work in the Gulf, Western and Southern Highlands provinces.
NGE said it held six onshore petroleum prospecting licences (PPLs) covering more than 52,000sqkm.
These PPLs contain an excellent exploration inventory of 59 prospects and leads, which include six drillable prospects 10 areas in the PPls are being evaluated to as drillable prospects.
The PPLs include 265 which covers an area from Daru to Bensback, 266 in the Kiunga and Lake Murray areas, 267 is in an area between Kumusi and Balimo, 268 is south of Kiunga, 269 covers an area stretching from Kiunga to Tabubil and 277 located next to the main producing oil gas areas in Southern Highlands province.
The company announced to the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday that it reached agreement  to raise A$18.5 million to access working capital for its exploration activities in PNG.
In a statement, the company’s executive chairman Michael Arnett said the funds raised would ensure that the company had sufficient working capital to fund its exploration activities in the immediate term which are critical to its successful development.
He said the funds were raised by placement of 112,121,210 shares at A$0.165 per share to “sophisticated or professional investors”.
The fundraising was managed by Bell Potter Securities Limited and was strongly supported by both institutional and sophisticated retail investors.
The directors of NGE include prominent PNG businessman Sir Michael Bromley, who used to own the Bromley and Manton chain of supermarkets in the Highlands region and Lae. Other directors are Andrew Martin and Andrew Kent.
The exploration activities in PNG is managed by senior geologist Francis Waina, who is supported by two community relations officers and a geologist and a geophysicist.
Earlier this year, the company announced that it had signed a deal with an undisclosed multi-national oil company to fund seismic programmes