Ansila Energy wraps up UK gas acquisition, banks in $8m to progress development

Special Report: Ansila Energy (ASX:ANA) has completed the acquisition of Hartshead Resources and has raised $8m to advance its field development plans.

The company issued 1 billion shares in ANA to the vendors as consideration for the remaining 78.4 per cent interest in Hartshead that it did not already own.

Hartshead holds five contiguous blocks in the Southern North Sea offshore UK that includes four existing discoveries with existing 2C contingent resources of 354 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas.

It has also raised $8m through a heavily oversubscribed placement of shares priced at 2.5c each that received strong support from investors, including demand from a UK institutional fund manager and a UK high net-worth professional investor.

The first $7m will be used to fully fund the work program commitments for the Phase I operations covering the Victoria and Viking Wx fields that host 217 Bcf of 2C contingent resources through to the preliminary field development plan (PFD) submission.

Ansila will use the remaining $1m to progress work on the Phase II assets as part of a multi-phased development of existing gas discoveries.

There is potential for further growth with a Phase III exploration portfolio that could host 141 Bcf of prospective resources in two drill-ready exploration prospects.

“The completion of this transaction and capital raise will see Ansila Energy transformed into a gas development company with ready to develop projects on the UK continental shelf,” newly appointed chief executive officer Chris Lewis said.

“The next twelve months will see us invest in the planning for the Phase I field development, move the portfolio closer to production and create significant value for shareholders and stakeholders alike.

“There are multiple milestones to reach in the coming months and we look forward to progress on all fronts and keeping shareholders fully informed along the way”.

Work programs

Work on the Phase I projects is already underway and will focus on selecting the optimal development concept to take forward to the preliminary FDP/front-end engineering and design (FEED) stage gate.

The Phase I project will incorporate subsurface, drilling and completion, facilities, pipelines, HSE, and commercial analysis and planning.

This will deliver well placement and design, frac design, production forecasting, economic analysis along with development concept evaluation and selection.

Discussions will also be held with third-party host facility owners to discuss access to spare capacity in order to enable transmission of Ansila’s gas to onshore gas processing facilities and sales point.

This article was developed in collaboration with Ansila Energy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.