Given the falling oil prices and the difficulties of raising new capital Kea admitted it needed to investigate alternative funding opportunities to drill the Shannon prospect.

"Due to the previously announced cash constraints facing the company, Kea's future is precarious, and it is frustrating that Kea has an exciting prospect ready to drill and located immediately under our Puka production station," Kea said in a statement to the AIM.

Funds are needed to drill the prospect and meet operational and corporate overheads for the junior, which is desperate to restart the Puka production and start generating cash to keep the wolf from its door.

The company says its cash resources are expected to be sufficient for its immediate working capital needs until shortly after its May 8 general meeting, but it needs shareholders to approve an equity raising to survive longer.

The company has joined PrimaryBid.com, Darwin Strategic's online funding platform that enables crowd funding of AIM placings.

The London-listed company wants to raise around $6 million for the drilling by issuing 300 million new shares to investors at a price of 1p each.

The board admits that investors may be able to purchase Kea shares in the secondary market below the minimum placing price of 1p; however, only the issue of new shares through PrimaryBid.com will raise the capital needed by Kea.

The company previously used the platform to fund the Puka-3 well.

If the latest raising fails the company will likely be forced into a fire sale of its assets during the worst possible market and could even close its doors.

"The company is unlikely to survive in its present form, if at all, if the necessary funds are not raised through PrimaryBid.com or through other means," Kea said.

The company is pinning its hopes on Shannon-1, even though only it has a 20% chance of success. Kea has already spent over $40 million within its 70% share of PEP 51153 to date with very mixed results.

"Success with drilling Shannon-1 would have a major impact on the future of the company," it said in its statement.

"Commercialisation of an oil discovery could be expeditious given the current production infrastructure on the Puka site."

MEO Australia, which has a 30% interest in the licence, has not yet committed to meeting its share of the well, but will have back-in rights in the success case.

Drilling is planned for the third quarter.

Shannon sits in the Tikorangi Limestone, some 1000m underneath the Puka Mount Messenger sand reservoir.

Kea says Shannon has a potential 9.62MMbbl with P10 upside to 18.22MMbbl and a P90 potential of 2.57MMbbl.

This same formation produced 24 million barrels in the adjacent Waihapa field where flow rates have been reached up to 10,000 barrels of oil per day.

A secondary target exists in the Mt Messenger sands, above the oil-water contact for the Puka field, with a 50% chance of success - although there is no guarantee the sands can be produced.