Incremental raised A$61 million in an initial public offering last month by selling 61 million shares at A$1 each to investors in Australia and the UK.

The funds went towards the US$39.7 million purchase last Friday of the ageing Selmo field in onshore Turkey from private interests, as well as listing costs, said chairman Chris Cronin.

Incremental was formed by a syndicate of petroleum industry experts to acquire low-risk, ageing, producing oilfields and apply world-class technical expertise to increase production and recoveries, according to Cronin.

After reviewing several opportunities, including in Australia, the company identified the Selmo oilfield in Turkey in 2004 as its preferred acquisition.

Incremental expected to boost production at Selmo – Turkey’s second largest oil field – by using newer technology. Cronin said the joint venture hoped to increase production to 2000 barrels per day, from its current 1800 bopd.

In 2004 the Selmo oil field produced 755,643 barrels of oil, and in the first half of 2005 production totalled 322,402 barrels.

The field has produced 80 million barrels of oil over the four decades since its discovery by Mobil in 1964. There is an estimated 500 million barrels of oil left in place, but recovery rates have been low to date.

Cronin said that Incremental hopes to replicate the Selmo business model by acquiring one of several other privately owned fields in southeast Turkey.

Cronin is former director of corporate strategy and planning at Australia's Woodside Petroleum Ltd.

Incremental’s headquarters are in Perth, but its managing director, geologist Gerry McGann, will be based in Istanbul.