Whitebark Energy (ASX:WBE) has upped its stake in the promising Wizard Lake oil development in Canada and is just days away from bringing the first well into production.

Following the completion of a two-well drilling program, Whitebark’s Canadian partner agreed to let the company raise its stake in the project to 50 per cent, from 30 per cent.

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As part of the agreement, Whitebark will fully fund the drilling of the next two wells in the second half of this year.

Whitebark is targeting initial production of 300 to 400 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from the Rex-1 discovery, with first production on track for early June.

The company then aims to ramp that up to around 800bopd by the end of this year.

Managing director David Messina said Whitebark was committed to progressing the Wizard Lake oil development as soon as possible.

“We have been flexible with our funding program over the past six months and through a combination of asset sales and strategic equity raisings, we have positioned Whitebark to pursue a more aggressive growth program,” he said.

Whitebark said there are an additional 12 to 17 drilling locations within the Wizard Lake project.

 

In other ASX energy news today:

Oil and gas explorer Metgasco (ASX:MEL) has informed investors that it has no need to raise further capital right now because it is sufficiently funded. The company said it had no further funding commitments relating to a well operated by Byron Energy (ASX:BYE) in the Gulf of Mexico. Metgasco has $3.3m in cash and liquid assets and roughly $12.5m worth of shares in Byron Energy.
 
Strike Energy (ASX:STX) and Warrego Energy (ASX:WGO) are expecting to start drilling the West Erregulla-2 well in the Perth Basin this weekend. The well will be drilled to a total depth of 5,200m in the hopes of hitting three independent reservoir targets. Meanwhile, Warrego has just completed a $6.1m placement to institutional investors and is now undertaking a $1m share purchase plan for existing shareholders.