Beach Petroleum is set to cement expansion plans that may add a potential 8 million barrels of oil reserves to its books next year after the Australian outfit successfully raised A$191 million (US$183 million) with a share placement.
The capital will fuel Beach’s foray in to Egypt, other international opportunities and its increasing exposure to the rapidly expanding coalbed methane (CBM) industry in Queensland.
Last month Beach announced its investment in three Egyptian blocks, which will cost the outfit around A$150 million (US$143.4 million).
The outfit has signed agreements to buy non-operated stakes of 20% to 25% in the offshore North Shadwan and South-East July concessions, plus the onshore North Qarun area.
These prospective basins have the potential to add 8 million barrels of net proved and probable oil to reserves next year, Beach said in a statement today.
“For the present, Beach remains focused on its production target of 9 million barrels of oil equivalent in the full year 2009 and on delivering the upside potential in its core Cooper, Eromanga, Surat CBM and Basker-Manta-Gummy assets,” the company’s managing director, Reg Nelson, said.
On top of Beach’s investments in Egypt, the company said it is also at an advanced stage of evaluating further opportunities in the Middle East and North African region.
The share placement saw a total of 133,637,464 shares changing hands at A$1.43 per share.

(Upstream Online)