i3 Energy plc, an independent oil and gas company with assets and operations in the UK, today announces its intention to issue new ordinary shares of £0.0001 each in the Company via an accelerated bookbuild to raise in aggregate gross proceeds of not less than £16 million at a price of 37 pence per share. 

It is intended that the aggregate net proceeds of the Placing and the anticipated £24 million junior secured loan note facility with warrants outlined in its announcement on 25 February 2019 will fund i3's planned 2019 multi-well appraisal and development drilling programme at its 100% owned and operated Liberator oil field and Serenity prospect and its near term working capital requirements. The programme is expected to commence as early as June 2019 and is targeting STOIIPs of 314 and 197 million barrels respectively. i3 plans to:

• Drill the A3 appraisal well in Block 13/23c ("Liberator West"), expected to convert Liberator West resources into reserves
• Drill the first Liberator Phase I development well ("L2 Well") in Block 13/23d, which will be suspended for completion in 2020
• Drill the S1 well into the Serenity prospect that i3 expects will prove a material extension of the neighbouring Tain discovery

Majid Shafiq, CEO of i3 Energy commented:
"Today's placing, alongside our anticipated junior loan facility, allows us to retain a 100% interest in and operatorship of the Liberator field and Serenity prospect and ensures i3 is in a robust and competitive position to deliver substantial shareholder growth as we move into an operationally driven phase. This is a further key milestone that the management team has delivered on and ensures that the drilling of our first three wells remains on track to commence in June 2019 using the Blackford Dolphin drilling rig.

"Liberator is a highly material project with attractive production potential and strong growth optionality relative to the size of i3. We will continue to pursue joint venture discussions from a position of financial strength with a number of high calibre potential partners as we also progress a senior debt facility that will enable the Company to develop Liberator on a 100% basis until such time as we attract a JV farmout proposal that we believe to be commensurate with the potential of our asset base. 

"I would like to thank shareholders for their support and look forward to a transformational 2019 and 2020."

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