Xtract Energy plc
24 December 2007
24 December 2007 AIM: XTR
XTRACT ENERGY PLC
Further US$6 million Investment in Elko Energy Inc
Xtract Energy PLC ('Xtract' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce that it has
made a further investment of US$6 million in Elko Energy Inc ('Elko') through a
direct private placement.
As a consequence of this investment, Xtract's wholly owned subsidiary, Xtract
International Ltd (formerly Cambrian Oil and Gas Plc), has received 12 million
new common shares in Elko at a cost of US$0.50 per share.. The placement was
made in parallel with an additional brokered private placement of approximately
24.2 million new shares to a number of other institutional investors by Elko at
the same price per share.
Following both of these private placements, Xtract Energy, through its
subsidiary Xtract International Ltd, now holds approximately 33.8 million common
shares in Elko, representing approximately 35.2% of the total issued capital of
Elko.
As part of the placement terms, Xtract International Ltd will receive a cash
commission of 6% in lieu of brokerage and 480,000 warrants valid for 12 months
and exercisable at US$0.60 per share. These terms are in line with the terms
agreed between Elko and Canadian brokers Jennings Capital Inc. and Cormark
Securities Inc. for the brokered placement of the additional shares to the other
investors involved in the transaction.
Andy Morrison, CEO of Xtract, commented:
'This parallel fund-raising by Elko is an important milestone in the growth of
the company and will enable it to significantly advance the development of its
Dutch and Danish North Sea interests during 2008. The Dutch assets substantially
underpin the value of Elko whilst the Danish acreage holds some of the most
exciting remaining exploration prospects in the North Sea, with enormous upside
potential
Through its major shareholding position in Elko, Xtract Energy Plc offers
investors immediate access to this otherwise unlisted opportunity'.
Enquiries please contact:
Xtract Energy plc Andy Morrison, CEO +44 (0) 20 7079 1798
Smith & Williamson David Jones +44 (0) 20 7131 4000
Corporate Finance Ltd Azhic Basirov
Scott Harris Stephen Scott +44 (0) 20 7653 0030
Annabel Michie
For further Information on Xtract please visit www.xtractenergy.co.uk
About Elko Energy
Elko Energy Inc ('Elko') is a Canadian oil and gas exploration company formed in
2005.
Elko has an 80 per cent interest in a 5,370 km2 exploration and production
license in close proximity to the prolific Central Graben in the Danish North
Sea. The licence covers 26 Danish licence blocks with a 6 year exploration term
and 30 years for exploitation. Elko is an approved offshore operator in Denmark
and has set up a Danish subsidiary to hold the licence. The current partnership
is Elko (80%) and Nordsoen - a Danish government entity (20%).
In early 2007, Elko applied for two off-shore blocks in the Dutch sector of the
North Sea, both of which contain a number of drilled and tested gas bearing
structures. Block P1 has now been awarded to a consortium in which Elko will be
the operator and will retain 33% interest. Award of adjacent Block P2 is pending
and discussions continue to secure additional acreage.
In addition to its exploration assets, Elko owns 51% of Dragon Energy Inc.
('Dragon'), a private Canadian company. Dragon's principal assets are a 30%
share of the producing Kotaneelee gas field in Canada and a joint venture in
respect of the Maling oil field in Gansu province, China.
About Xtract Energy Plc
Xtract identifies and invests in a diversified portfolio of early stage energy
sector technologies and businesses with very significant growth potential. We
aim to work closely with the associated management teams to achieve critical
project milestones, to finance later development stages and to build and
crystallise value for all shareholders and partners.
Xtract is supported by its cornerstone investor, Cambrian Mining Plc (AIM:CBM) a
diversified resource investment house which, together with its wholly owned
subsidiary Cambrian Investment Holdings Ltd, holds approximately 50.34% of the
issued share capital of the Company.
A short description of the principal assets of Xtract (other than Elko Energy)
is set out below. These assets are either held directly or through wholly owned
subsidiaries of the Company.
MEO Australia
MEO is focused on developing gas-to-liquids ('GTL') projects in the Timor Sea
Australia, in an area of shallow water known as Tassie Shoal. It has secured
Commonwealth Government environmental approvals for two large scale (1.8 Mtpa)
methanol plants (50 per cent. interest) and a 3 Mtpa LNG plant (100 per cent.
interest) which are adjacent to the Evans Shoal gas field.
Wasabi Energy
Wasabi is a diversified investor in renewable energy and low greenhouse emission
technologies, with interests in geothermal waste/heat, uranium exploration in
Australia's Northern Territory and biodiesel investments in Victoria.
Central Asian Interests
Xtract's Central Asian interests include a production sharing agreement with
Kyrgyzneftegaz to instigate a water injection project on the Beshkent- Togap oil
field. Xtract also holds interests in several exploration licences in the Tash
Kumyr area and in the Toktogul exploration licence.
Oil Shale
Xtract has oil shale and related petroleum product exploration rights over
mining tenements in the Julia Creek area of Queensland and has recently been
granted an exploration permit which gives rights to explore for oil shale in
an area in the South of New Zealand. It is investigating the commercial
production of hydrocarbons (crude oil) from oil shale.
Xtract is also available for trading on the open market segment of the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange (ticker R9X.FSE).
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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