News

April 16, 2009

Afren Eyes Move To The Main Board As It Raises US$126 Million To Ensure Fast-Track Development Of Ebok

It will be some relief for investors to hear that Afren has raised over US$126 million in an institutional share placing priced at 32 pence a share. The placing, led by Merrill Lynch which closed the book-building process in pretty short order, a sign of City confidence in the asset base, should allay shareholder fears that the ambitions of the fast-growing E&P would founder as its coffers ran short of the kind of cash needed to develop its key Ebok oilfield in Nigeria.

The AIM-quoted company, which has made a virtue of meeting or indeed beating its production guidance, plans to bring Ebok onstream via an early production system in early 2010, with full development by the end of the year. Early production of 15,000 to 25,000 barrels per day is expected, rising to 35,000 to 50,000 bpd by the end of 2010. This would put the company, which currently produces 26,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Okoru Setu field in Nigeria and the CI-11 block in Cote...