Shares in the company, which are trading under the ticker “OBL”, opened yesterday morning at 11c, recovering only slightly during the day to close at 13c. This morning the stock was trading at 13c.
Oil Basins has been restructured and recapitalised from the shell of a former IT outfit called Saxon Investment Group, whose shares on the ASX have been suspended for the past 11 years.
In June, it issued a prospectus inviting existing and new shareholders to participate in raising up to $A6.37 million for an exploration program initially comprising two wells – one in the Canning Basin and another in offshore Gippsland.
Although the company extended the offer to July 21 by nearly a month, it was unable to raise the full amount. It had originally hoped to raise 53.1 million shares and 43.1 million options, but had to settle for almost 28.4 million shares and 11.5 million options.
Oil Basins non executive director Neil Doyle told PetroleumNews.net recently that the company’s Canning Basin focus was very specific.
“We have farmed-in to the Blina Back Reef Play Joint Venture Area – the northeast sector of production licence L6 within permit EP129 – it’s a 374 square kilometre trapezium-shaped block northeast of the Blina oil field,” he said.
“Our initial prospect, called Backreef, is in the trough between Blina and the Harold and Lukins wells of the 1980s,” he said.
Post-drill interests will be Oil Basins (35%), Golden Dynasty (30%), Back Reef Oil (20%) and private individuals (15%).
Oil Basins’ offshore Victorian permit is Vic/P41, which encircles but does not include, the Sole gas field in the eastern Gippsland Basin.
In early May, Doyle forged a deal with Eagle Bay Resources for the right to farm-in to 7.5% of the permit. A few days later, he negotiated an option for Oil Basins to take up another 5% from Moby Oil & Gas.
The farm-in has now been finalised, as announced by Moby earlier this week.
To complete the 7.5% farm-in to Vic/P41, Oil Basins will need to pay about $2.45 million towards the cost of a well (based on a total estimated well cost of $13 million).
Opting to take up the additional 5% from Moby will cost a further $1.65 million towards the cost of the well on Moby’s account.
