Mukuyu gas discovery sparks investor interest
OIL and gas exploration firm Invictus Energy has received strong interest from multiple domestic institutional investors with the intent of investing into the company after the discovery of gas at Mukuyu field, NewsDay Business can report.
The firm recently revealed that preliminary compositional analysis confirmed high quality natural gas containing minimal impurities, which will require minimal processing to prepare for sale to downstream customers.
The energy company declared two material discoveries after recovering a total of 15 downhole gas and gas-condensate samples from both the Upper and Lower Angwa Formation targets in the Mukuyu-2/ST-1 well during its December drilling campaign.
The dual discoveries confirmed the incredible potential of the Mukuyu gas field and defined a new petroleum province in the Cabora Bassa basin, where the company holds a dominant acreage position of 360 000ha in proximity to a high-demand energy market with established delivery infrastructure.
“Following an in-country visit of the full Invictus board of directors in late February to meet with stakeholders, including Zimbabwe government officials and potential gas offtakers, the company has received strong interest from multiple domestic institutional investors with the intent of completing a strategic investment into the company,” the firm said in a shareholder update yesterday.
As such, Invictus has engaged existing major shareholder Mangwana Capital to coordinate the strategic investment process.
“Mangwana Capital is pleased to provide further support to Invictus and off the back of the discovery at Mukuyu there is strong demand from local institutional investors to be a part of an exciting opportunity, which will have a significant impact on the country,” Ben Mbanga, managing director of Mangwana Capital, said.
Yesterday, the company’s share price stood at A$0,105 up from A$0,100 recorded on March 4, 2024 when the fluid sample analysis results were announced.
Invictus also disclosed that it has raised A$1,5 million (about US$1 million) through shareholder entitlement offer which was launched last month.
With the entitlement offer now concluded, the firm will allot a total of 11 445 580 new fully paid ordinary shares and 5 722 896 listed options, raising A$1,49 million.
The new shares and attaching options are expected to be issued today.
“We would like to thank our shareholders that participated in the rights issue which has now been concluded and provided the company with additional capital to advance our appraisal activity,” Invictus managing director Scott Macmillan said.
“The Invictus board has recently concluded a successful visit to Zimbabwe and met with key government officials following the confirmation of a gas-condensate discovery at Mukuyu to advance the implementation of the petroleum production sharing agreement, the conclusion of which will deliver several corporate and project partnering options for the company.
“We are progressing our appraisal plan of the Mukuyu gas-condensate field on multiple fronts with a well test for Mukuyu-2 and 3D seismic across the field to inform resource volumes and future targeted appraisal drilling and early development of the field.”
Following the successful execution of the A$15 million (about US$10 million) placement in December 2023 and receiving a further A$1,5 million (about US$1 million) from the subsequent rights issue in March 2024, the company said it was well capitalised to to progress with its current activities and appraisal plan.-newsday
