T5 Oil and Gas to seek listing on Dublin ESM

T5 Oil and Gas, the new exploration firm established by five former Tullow Oil executives, is to seek a stock listing on Dublin’s ESM market in the autumn, or early next year, depending on market conditions.

The move will form part of a dual listing, with the company’s primary share listing set to be via London’s AIM exchange.

T5, which is headed by ex-Tullow chairman, Pat Plunkett, and counts his fellow former Tullow executives Matt O’Donoghue, Steve McTiernan, Andrew Windham and Gerry Sheehan as the other founding directors, has already been described as “a mini-Tullow” and is set to focus, as with that company, on building up an asset base in Africa.

The firm will initially target assets in Senegal (also the starting point, in Africa, for Tullow), where it has two licences, and use these as a springboard to further expansion around the African continent. It is understood that the company has at least four other African licences targeted for acquisition this year.

Dublin-based finance house Raglan Capital, headed by Fastnet Oil & Gas chairman, Cathal Friel, has been co-ordinating T5’s initial fundraising efforts. Approximately €4m of the targeted €5m of seed capital has been raised. Raglan is also likely to end up as a significant stakeholder in T5, with Mr Friel becoming a director.