Lansdowne Oil and Gas shares to restart trading

Troubled Irish explorer Lansdowne Oil and Gas has applied for a resumption of trading in its shares to take effect from Wednesday of this week.

The Dublin-headquartered exploration company’s shares – which are listed on London’s AIM market - have been suspended since mid-April and a London Court of Appeal ruling that Lansdowne and its senior partner, Providence Resources must pay up to $7m in fees to drilling services firm Transocean over a long-running dispute relating to the Barryroe field in the Celtic Sea.

Lansdowne, last month, announced the intention to issue new shares at a discounted rate in an emergency funding drive.

Last Friday, the company said it had shelved plans to sell the company – one of the options examined as part of an all-encompassing strategic review launched in April – after successfully raising €2.7m to pay off the Transocean debt and meet working capital needs up to the middle of next year.

Lansdowne said application has been made for the placing shares – representing nearly 44% of the firm’s enlarged share capital – to be admitted to trading on AIM, with dealings expected to commence on June 22.

“After gaining access to new funds to secure our interest in the Barryroe joint venture, we are looking to the future with optimism,” chairman John Greenall said in Lansdowne’s annual results presentation on Friday, also noting that the Court of Appeal ruling had been “a real body blow” for the company.

“We continue to recognise that great value can be created in Barryroe, particularly in the rising oil price environment that now seems to be taking hold,” he said.

Mr Greenall also said that Lansdowne remains confident a farm-out deal at Barryroe will be successfully concluded, helping to provide Lansdowne with sufficient resources to develop other licences it holds. If that doesn’t happen, it has “a number of available funding options,” he said.