i3 Energy plc, an independent oil and gas company with assets and operations in the UK, is pleased to announce the following corporate update.
 
Highlights:

• The successful Serenity 13/23c-10 well was plugged and abandoned as planned after the Company retrieved all expected samples and data 
• The Liberator A2 well has been spud
• The Company has agreed to issue £5 million of equity to funders of i3's May 2019 Junior Loan Notes at a price of 35 pence per share via private placement to provide i3 additional flexibility to extend its drilling programme
• The Funding Long Stop Date by which the Company was required to enter a reserve-based lending ("RBL") facility or to source alternative development financing has been extended from 6 December 2019 to 30 April 2020

Majid Shafiq, CEO of i3 Energy commented:
"We are excited to be drilling again at Liberator on the back of our success at Serenity. The A2 location has been selected as a low-risk target in close proximity to Liberator's two well penetrations, giving us a high-level of confidence when tied into the recently reprocessed seismic that was used to select the Serenity discovery well location.

The Company is also very pleased with the additional funding we've received from our Loan Noteholders. Their continued material support shows a great level of confidence in i3's assets and management team."

Liberator A2 spud

After plugging and abandoning the Serenity 13/23c-10 well as planned, the Borgland Dolphin semi-submersible rig was mobilised to Liberator's A2 location, and the A2 well has now been spud. The Company will provide A2 drilling results to the market when the well has reached total depth and acquired data has been evaluated. The results of the A2 well will allow the location and trajectory of the future LP-02 production well to be optimized and will be plugged and abandoned as planned.

Funding update

The Company has agreed to place 14,285,715 new ordinary shares in the Company at an issue price of 35 pence per share, raising gross proceeds of £5 million. This private placement has been organized by i3 and Bybrook Capital LLP, which, alongside certain other investors who participated in i3's May 2019 Junior Loan Notes, should they take up their right to participate, will subscribe for the Placing Shares. Such proceeds will bolster the Company's cash resources as it enters the drilling of the A2 well at Liberator which, in conjunction with Dolphin Drilling's partial payment deferral as announced by i3 on 29 October 2019, gives the Company flexibility to extend its drilling programme.

i3 announced on 29 October 2019 that it was obligated to enter a reserve-based lending facility by no later than December 2019 in order to remain in compliance with the terms of its Junior Loan Notes. The Majority Noteholders have now agreed to extend the date by which the Company must enter an RBL or find an alternative means of funding to achieve first oil from its assets to 30 April 2020.

For their previous and ongoing work and allocation of resources to structure and support the Company's funding requirements as it undertakes a large-scale drilling programme, Bybrook will be issued warrants to subscribe for up to 8 million new ordinary shares in the Company at an exercise price of 40 pence per Ordinary Share.

i3 will provide an update once the above Placing Shares have been issued. Once issued, application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM, with Admission expected to become effective no later than 8.00 a.m. on or around 6 December 2019 and that dealings in the Placing Shares will also commence at that time. 

Link to i3 Energy UK country profile