Muted support for Buru raising

Buru Energy has received a quarter of its maximum allowable $12 million in subscription applications for its share purchase plan following a recent $28 million placement.

The $3 million in subscriptions came from 376 of the approximate 8,600 shareholders in Buru.

The company said in an announcement the non-underwritten share purchase plan allowed existing shareholders to acquire up to $15,000 worth of new shares at the same price as the placement.

The issue price of the new shares was 75 cents, representing a 2 per cent discount to the company’s closing price before the placement was announced.

The share purchase plan was announced in addition to Buru’s placement last month, to raise a combined total of $31.1 million before costs.

“The difficult market conditions obviously affected the take-up of the SPP, but we are now fully funded through the end of 2015 and about to start an exciting exploration and appraisal program,” Buru executive chairman Eric Streitberg said in the announcement.

The company’s 2015 work program is set to include further development of its Ungani Oilfield project in the Canning Basin.

The project is owned in a 50/50 joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation.

Buru announced earlier this month that its recent tender for a pastoral lease for the area of its Ungani facilities had been successful, with the estimated $3.5 million transaction conditional upon government approval of the transfer of the lease.

If approved, the company said it intended to enter into an agreement with a local cattle station operator to manage the station and assist in co-ordination of its operations. 

Buru shares closed up slightly at 75 cents per share.