Shares in oil and gas exploration company WHL Energy plunged in value today after a prospective partner pulled out of a $50 million-plus farm-in deal.
WHL said its potential partner had withdrawn from further negotiations as it had been unable to formalise board approval.
Managing director Steve Noske said WHL had made substantial progress in negotiations, which had supported the technical and commercial merits of its project.
At close of trade today, WHL shares were down 0.8 cents at 1.6 cents.
Today's news comes four months after WHL said a global energy giant was considering a potential farm-in agreement covering its Seychelles oil and gas assets.
WHL had signed a non-binding letter of intent with the top 100 global Fortune 500 company, which it described as an internationally recognised exploration and production operator.
The Seychelles acreage is located off the southern Seychelles coast off the coast of Africa, covering about 21,426 square kilometres of oil and gas exploration interests.
International petroleum consultant Netherland Sewell and Associates estimated a prospective resource of 3.45 billion barrels of oil for 21 of WHL's most highly-ranked leads at Seychelles, comparing with WHL's own estimate of 4.03 billion barrels of oil for the same leads.