Australian oil and gas company Zeta Petroleum has attracted commitments of some EUR 4.7 million under its initial public offering on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), which opened today (March 26 ). The company, with oil and gas fields in Romania, offers 40 million shares priced at AUD 0.20 each (Australian dollars), bringing the value of the IPO to some EUR 6.3 million. The IPO is scheduled to close on April 18, with allotment of shares on April 23. Shares in Zeta will then list on the ASX on May 1.

The money raised from this IPO will be used to fund the development of its Bobocu gas and Jimbolia oil fields onshore Romania. “These and other Romanian assets have a pre money valuation of EUR 14 million based on contingent and prospective resources of 112 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas and 1.72 million barrels (MMbbl) of oil,” according to Zeta Petroleum.

Zeta plans to bring the Bobocu gas field back into production by drilling new development this year and possibly carrying out workovers of existing wells. It may also use the funds raised from the IPO to re-enter an existing well at Jimbolia, if it is unable to find a farm in partner to drill an appraisal well at the oil field, according to the company.

The Bobocu gas field is located 20 kilometres northeast of Buzau and 110 km northeast of capital city Bucharest. It was discovered in 1966 and put into production in 1977. Zeta acquired the field in 2007.

Jimbolia oil field is located in the proven producing eastern part of the Pannonian Basin, about 40 kilometres east of Timisoara on the Romania’s border with Serbia. The 23.9 square kilometre licence contains two discoveries, Jimbolia Veche and Jimbolia Vest that were made in 1983 by Petrom.

Zeta acquired the Jimbolia licence in 2007.

The Australian company also holds a 12.5 percent stake in the Padureni licence in the eastern area of the Transylvanian Basin. Padureni is a gas field located in Mures county, about 25 kilometres north-east of the town of Targu-Mures. It was discovered by Romgaz in 1984. Zeta sold a 87.5 percent stake in the licence to Expert Petroleum in 2009.

Apart from these licences, Zeta holds more than 6,000 square kilometres of non-exclusive prospecting permits in the eastern Moldavian region of Romania, a known hydrocarbon prone area.

editor@romania-insider.com