Empire Oil & Gas has been chasing pounds and euros this past week, on a United Kingdom and European tour to help raise $2 million in a 60-million share placement.
Empire holds a number of interests in prospective territory on- and offshore WA, and with a busy drilling program in place for the year, is keen to "get the story out of Australia".
A major part of the story, and probably the drawcard of Empire’s portfolio, is its 59 per cent stake in EP369 in the Perth Basin.
Armed with 443 kilometres of new seismic and some reprocessing of existing seismic, Empire and forty-one per cent partner CalEnergy(UK) are keen to drill two newly-defined prospects.
And with a land access agreement in hand and a drilling contract almost signed off, the partners are expecting to drill Eclipse-1, 50 kilometres north of Perth, in the first half of the year.
Empire Oil & Gas managing director Craig Marshall has described Eclipse as one of the best undrilled prospects in Australia, with almost 560 billion cubic feet of gas potential and says Empire and CalEnergy are not the only ones keen on the potential of these prospects.
Willing to divest 19 per cent of its equity, Empire has rejected the advances of a major multi-national which wanted much more than this.
CalEnergy is not willing to divest any equity in the permit.
Highland Energy Limited business development manager David Williams, an Empire director, is assisting with the current fundraising.
