DIRECTORS of North Sea-focused i3 Energy have shown confidence in its plans to develop a find in the Moray Firth by investing around £1,000,000 in the business.
Aberdeen-based i3 said chief financial officer Graham Heath, operations head John Woods and non-executive Neill Carson had subscribed for £788,669 shares in a fund-raising completed in support of the firm’s work on the Liberator find.
The share purchases were made days after i3 raised £16m through a placing, in which Mr Carson and three other directors subscribed for shares worth around £250,000 in total. Chief executive Majid Shafiq supported the placing along with i3’s chairman David Knox and non-executive director Richard Ames.
Mr Shafiq said the proceeds of the placing, combined with i3’s debt facilities, would allow the firm to target over 500 million barrels of oil it reckons are held in Liberator field and the Serenity prospect through a three-well drilling programme this summer.
The shares were issued at 37p each in both tranches.
The placing was oversubscribed in a sign that City investors have regained their enthusiasm for investing in relatively small oil and gas exploration firms such as i3. Some investors cooled on the sector in response to the crude price plunge from 2014.
A contractor has started survey work in connection with the wells.
Share in i3 Energy closed up 0.5p at 40p.
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