Empyrean sells shares to fund Texas buy-in

Oil and gas explorer Empyrean Energy has raised £0.8m through a share placing to pay for the acquisition of a 10% stake in the Riverbend Project in Texas.The company said 13.6m new shares were placed at 6p each, with directors Tom Kelly and Frank Brophy taking up 2m and 0.17m shares respectively. The share price of Empyrean had been trading below the placing price for the three days before the announcement of the placing.The newly issued shares represent 12.7% of the enlarged issued share capital.The funds will be used to acquire a 10% working interest in the Riverbend Project, a gas find in Texas, USA.Executive director Tom Kelly described the acquisition as a ‘must do’ deal for Empyrean.The project is located south of the prolific Brookeland Field and south east of the prolific Double ‘A’ Wells field and comprises a total of approximately 40,000 acres under lease or exclusive option and an area of mutual interest totalling 50,000 acres.Drilling on the project was suspended last year after a blow-out at one of the wells.‘The attraction of being able to secure a 10% interest in a project of this size during the drilling of the first test well after high pressure gas has already been confirmed is very compelling,’ Tom Kelly said.‘We are also looking forward to working with Krescent [the operators on the RiverBend Project] to achieve a successful outcome at the Quinn 3-H well and unlock the enormous potential value of the Riverbend Project Area,’ Kely added.