Empyrean Regulatory News (EME)

26 Jan 2007 11:45

Empyrean Energy PLC26 January 2007 Empyrean Energy PLC ('Empyrean' or the 'Company'; Ticker: (EME)) Placing of Shares •Money for exploration and development of Glantal gas project (Germany), Eagle Oil project (California), Sugarloaf Hosston gas project (Texas), and the Margarita gas project (Texas) •Potential further acquisitions- focus on near term producing assets AIM-quoted Empyrean Energy PLC today announces its broker, HB Corporate hascompleted a placing of 14,285,715 new ordinary shares of 0.2p at a price of 35pence per share raising £5,000,000 before expenses of new capital on behalf ofthe Company. The proceeds of the Placing will provide the Company with the funds to continuethe exploration of the Glantal gas project in Germany, testing of oil shows atthe Californian Eagle Oil Project, testing of gas shows at sugarloaf, Texas, andthe companies ongoing drilling programme at the Margarita, Texas. During Q1 of2007 Empyrean expects to commence testing at Sugarloaf in Q1, obtain initialwell results from Margarita and finalize seismic plans at Glantal. Empyrean isalso currently assessing a number of acquisitions with a focus on drill readyprojects which can be quickly brought into production should they be successful. The new ordinary shares have been placed with a number of UK and Europeaninstitutions and other investors. Application has been made for the new shares to be admitted to AIM and dealingsare expected to commence on 1st February 2007. Following this issue of equity the Company has 49,596,767 shares in issue. Commenting today Tom Kelly, Executive Director, of Empyrean said: "Today's £5mfundraising allows Empyrean to drive forward our assets in Europe and the US. Injust two years Empyrean has built up a balanced portfolio of oil and gas assetsthat has an appropriate balance of risk versus reward. We look forward tobuilding on the progress made during 2006 that included positive oil and gasshows at two of the Company's projects, both of which will shortly undergotesting. Funds will also be used to grow the companies asset base through theacquisition of new projects which can be brought into production quickly andrealise near-term shareholder value." For further information Laurence ReadConduit PRTel: +44 (0)20 7429 6603Mob: +44 (0)7979 955 923 Rod VenablesImran AhmadCecil JordaanHB CorporateTel: +44 (0)20 7510 8600 Tom KellyEmpyrean Energy plcTel: +61 419 045044 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange