MELBOURNE�A fledgling explorer called Essential Petroleum Resources Ltd. has plans to raise $20 million (Aus.) through a fully underwritten share issue and use the funds to evaluate six permits in the onshore Otway basin of western Victoria.
The company was formed by former Elders Resources Director John Cornelius, former JB Were and Sons stockbrokers partner Peter Woodford, former Esso BHPP exploration geologist John Remfry, and former Geological Survey of Victoria and Alliance Oil geologist Roger Blake. All of these have had extensive experience in the Otway region.
Essential believes the Portland Trough sector of the Otway Basin has the potential to hold up to 200 million bbl of oil and 500 bcf of gas. The company says the region is underexplored, mostly because companies involved in earlier work were taken over and the programs cancelled.
Essential Petroleum has identified 12 prospects in its six permits. Five of the six are held in conjunction with Origin Energy Resources Ltd.
Underwritten by Melbourne broker Johnson Taylor Corporate Ltd., Essential plans to issue 66.66 million new shares at $0.30 (Aus.) each to add to the 30.4 million shares already issued to the company�s founders and seed capitalists. A total of 5.3 million options have already been issued, exercisable in two lots in 2003 and 2005 at $0.35 (Aus.) and $0.50 (Aus.) respectively.
