THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE INFORMATION AS STIPULATED UNDER THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO. 596/2014 AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW PURSUANT TO THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INFORMATION IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
02 October 2023
Orcadian Energy plc
(“Orcadian Energy”, “Orcadian” or the “Company”)
£350,000 equity financing and update of 33rd Licencing Round
Orcadian is pleased to announce that it has today raised gross proceeds of £350,000 through the issue of 2,916,666 new ordinary shares of the Company (the “New Ordinary Shares”) at a price per New Ordinary Share of £0.12. These funds are raised as part of a direct subscription with the Company with new investors. The subscription price represents a discount of approximately 14% to the closing mid-price of an ordinary share in the Company on 29September 2023, being the latest practicable day prior to the publication of this announcement.
The proceeds will be applied to ongoing working capital, the costs involved in the progressing the proposed farm-in agreements as announced on 18 September 2023 and the repayment of certain creditors. The Company will need to raise further funds in the near term to continue to progress its activities and further updates will be provided in due course.
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM, and it is expected that dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will commence on or around 5 October 2023. The New Ordinary Shares will be issued fully paid and will rank pari passu to the Company’s existing ordinary shares.
Immediately following Admission, the Company’s issued share capital will be 75,428,983 Ordinary Shares, with each share carrying the right to one vote. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. The total voting rights figure immediately following Admission, of 75,428,983 may be used by shareholders (and others with notification obligations) as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Steve Brown, Orcadian’s CEO, said:
“We are delighted to welcome our new investors on board. Though more funding was made available to the Company from other groups, we are continuing to minimise Company overheads whilst seeking to add value per share. As a Company we also remain very cognisant of keeping shareholder dilution to a minimum. These funds will enable us to progress the proposed farm-in deal that we announced as well as helping us unlock the inherent value we have always believed is in the Company for our shareholders.
“We look forward to providing updates on the proposed farm-in to the Pilot Project and the outcome of our applications in the 33rd Offshore Licensing Round.”
33rd Licencing Round
As announced on 19 January 2023, the Company made three licence applications, two in partnership with other companies and one on its own. One of the applications builds upon Orcadian’s viscous oil experience whilst the other two applications are focused on gas opportunities, including a potential gas-to-wire project on an appraised discovery, with integrated carbon capture, which could deliver baseload electricity with minimal emissions. Early stage indications suggest that, net to Orcadian, the P50 sales gas resource applied for, across the two gas focused applications, could amount to 114 bcf (billion cubic feet) in a discovery, 153 bcf in a near drill-ready prospect and 377 bcf in leads and less mature prospects. However, these are management estimates of resources, are based upon seismic and well log data, are as presented to the NSTA in the Licence Applications, and are provided here for guidance purposes only.
The Company anticipates that it will hear as to whether its licence applications have been successful during fourth quarter 2023 and a further announcement will be made when NSTA publish the results of the round.
For further information on the Company please visit the Company’s website: https://orcadian.energy
Contact:
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Orcadian Energy plc |
+ 44 20 7920 3150 |
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Steve Brown, CEO Alan Hume, CFO |
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| WH Ireland (Nomad and Joint Broker) | +44 20 7220 1666 |
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Katy Mitchell / Andrew de Andrade (Nomad) Harry Ansell / Fraser Marshall (Corporate Broking)
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| Tavistock (PR) | + 44 20 7920 3150 |
| Nick Elwes / Simon Hudson | [email protected] |
About Orcadian Energy
Orcadian is a North Sea focused, low emissions, oil and gas development company. In planning its Pilot development, Orcadian has selected wind power to transform oil production into a cleaner and greener process. The Pilot project is moving towards approval and will be amongst the lowest carbon emitting oil production facilities in the world, despite being a viscous crude. Orcadian may be a small operator, but it is also nimble, and the Directors believe it has grasped opportunities that have eluded some of the much bigger companies. As we strike a balance between Net Zero and a sustainable energy supply, Orcadian intends to play its part to minimise the cost of Net Zero and to deliver reliable energy to the UK.
Orcadian Energy (CNS) Ltd, Orcadian’s operating subsidiary, was founded in 2014 and is the sole licensee of P2244, which contains 78.0 MMbbl of 2P Reserves in the Pilot discovery, and of P2482, which contain a further 52.2 MMbbl of 2C Contingent Resources in the Elke and Narwhal discoveries (as audited by Sproule, with both numbers modified to take into account the TGS royalty, see the CPR in the Company’s Admission Document for more details). Within these licences there are also 118 MMbbl of unrisked Prospective Resources (modified for TGS royalty). These licences are in blocks 21/27a, 28/2a and 28/3a, and lie 150 kms due East of Aberdeen.
Pilot, which is the field with the largest reserves in Orcadian’s portfolio, was discovered by PetroFina in 1989 and has been well appraised. In total five wells and two sidetracks were drilled on Pilot, including a relatively short horizontal well which produced over 1,800 bbls/day on test. Orcadian’s proposed low emissions, field development plan for Pilot is based upon a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO), with over thirty wells to be drilled by a Jack-up rig and provision of power from a floating wind turbine.
Orcadian has entered into a non-binding heads of terms with a North Sea Operator which details the terms under which the Operator could farm-in to the Pilot development project. If the proposed deal was to progress in accordance with its outline terms, Orcadian would have an 18.75% stake in the Pilot development with all pre-first oil development costs paid by the North Sea Operator.
Emissions per barrel produced are expected to be about a tenth of the 2021 North Sea average, and less than half of the lowest emitting oil facility currently operating on the UKCS. On a global basis this places the Pilot field emissions at the low end of the lowest 5% of global oil production.
