Once a listed junior hard rock explorer, Nickelore (ASX:NIO) has now successfully made its way back onto the ASX as new oil and gas play Stonehorse Energy (ASX:SHE).

The company lit up the boards on Friday morning after raising roughly $4.7m at an issue price of 2c per share.

The newly named Stonehorse Energy said the offer was “strongly supported” by a mix of institutional, high net-worth and retail investors, with the top 20 shareholders owning 88.7 per cent of the company.

During its first session, Stonehorse traded steadily around its issue price, dipping as low as 1.6c but recovering to 1.8c, on the back of the exchange of 3.6 million shares.

That gives it a market cap of about $7.1m.

Nickelore struck a deal to buy Lone Star Energy back in December 2017 and then launched a prospectus to raise a minimum of $4.2m in cash in November 2018.

Through the acquisition of Lone Star, the newly rebranded Stonehorse Energy now has two existing producing oil and gas assets in Texas and Oklahoma in the US.

The company also has the opportunity to acquire stakes in two other oil and gas projects in Oklahoma via a “step-in” agreement with Brookside Energy (ASX:BRK).

Brookside is buying up and developing acreage in the prolific Anadarko Basin.

The company owns leases in three areas: the SCOOP and STACK plays, and more recently in the SWISH shale play.

The so-called STACK and SCOOP plays have been described as two of the “hottest new areas” for oil development in the US.

“We are particularly excited about the opportunities that are emerging from Brookside’s SWISH area in the SCOOP play,” Stonehorse executive director David Deloub said.

“There is currently a lot of activity in this area with several rigs operating and generating significant success, so the opportunity to invest in this operated project could deliver material upside for Stonehorse.”