Kea started life after chairman Ian Gowrie-Smith and his comrades sold successful Papua New Guinea oiler Rift Oil for $US115 million in 2009.

Keen to repeat the success the London-based Gowrie-Smith raised a few million to target opportunities in New Zealand.

However, since the spudding of the Wingrove-1 well in 2010 Kea's legacy has been a litany of disappointment.

It succeeded in getting the Puka field into production, but geological issues, low rates of oil and the falling oil price rendered it uneconomic.

Earlier this year Kea tried to raise £3 million via crowd-funding for the drilling of the Shannon-1 well, to get a target beneath Puka, however, it fell short.

With money thin on the ground the company has decided to ask shareholders for approval to sell its 70% interest in PEP 51153, the licence that includes the Puka wells and the Shannon prospect, to Caliera Fund, a little known privately-owned New Zealand company, for just $NZ500,000 [$A447,000].

That is a far cry for the $NZ4 million MEO Australia agreed to spend for the drilling of Puka-3 for its 30% interest in April 2014.

MEO has a pre-emptive right over PEP 51153.

Kea has also entered a conditional heads of terms to sell PEP381204, the licence that includes the Mauku prospect, to private NZ oiler New Endeavour Resources for $US500,000 [$A654,000].

The sales will let Kea pay off its debts but not meet the ongoing costs of keeping the company alive, so it will seek to raise a further £1 million to assess others, likely a reverse take-over to utilise its status as a company listed on London's Alternative Investment Market.

Kea was suspended from trading on the AIM on May 26.

The company said if shareholders blocked the sale it would need to repay funds to Caliera, and so it would not consider a sale to any other party.