Invictus Energy Ltd (Invictus) has raised $10 million to fund forward works at its 80 percent-owned Cabora Bassa oil and gas exploration project in northern Zimbabwe.
The independent Australian oil and gas exploration company said “it has received binding commitments for a $10 million placement to fund forward works at…Cabora Bassa Project”.
“The placement received strong support from institutional and sophisticated investors,” the company said, with “a total of 166,666,667 fully paid ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.060 per share to be issued as part of the placement.”
The funds are to be primarily allocated to the project’s Musuma-1 high-impact exploration well, which, Invictus said, “has demonstrated a compelling seismic Direct Hydrocarbon Indicator response and potential ‘flat spot’ – key indicators of hydrocarbon-bearing zones”.
It said the Musuma-1 well targets 1.2 Tcf of gas plus 73 million barrels of condensate.
Scott Macmillan, Invictus managing director, said the backing was received from both existing and new shareholders.
“The (Musuma) well has been designed as a low-cost, low-risk vertical well to test a shallow target with significant upside,” he said adding that “success at the well would unlock a new play fairway, significantly advancing our forward development plans, expand our resource base and accelerate the transition from exploration to commercial development.”
“Musuma is a technically compelling prospect, underpinned by multiple lines of seismic evidence, including consistent flat spots across different seismic surveys which are indicative of hydrocarbons,” Macmillan said.
Coupled with Mukuyu discovery, the oil executive said Musuma further underpins the Cabora Bassa Basin’s potential to emerge as a significant new hydrocarbon province.
However, Invictus cautioned that the estimated quantities of petroleum that may be potentially recovered by the application of a future development project relate to undiscovered accumulations.
“The estimates have both a risk of discovery and a risk of development,” the company said, adding that “further exploration, appraisal and evaluation is required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially recoverable hydrocarbons.” – TML