Petroceltic have raised $26m to fund a drilling campaign at the ELSA offshore discovery in Italy.

IRISH exploration company Petroceltic has conditionally raised $120.5 million (€89.6m) in fresh funding by way of a share placing, in order to fund its international drilling programme planned for the second half of this year.

Petroceltic International has announced that its wholly owned Italian subsidiary, Petroceltic Elsa Srl, has been granted nine exclusive exploration permits in the central Adriatic offshore Italy.