Placing & Retail Offer to fund new H2 storage site
UK Oil & Gas PLC
("UKOG" or the "Company")
Placing and Retail Offer to fund new H2 storage site
UK Oil & Gas PLC (London AIM: UKOG) is pleased to announce that it has successfully raised gross proceeds of £0.5 million by means of a placing (the "Placing") of new Ordinary Shares (the "Placing Shares") at a price of 0.025 pence per share (the "Issue Price"). The Issue Price represents a discount of approximately 26 per cent to the Closing Price of 0.034 pence per Ordinary Share on 18th November 2024, being the latest practicable business day prior to the publication of this Announcement.
In addition to the Placing, as the Company greatly values its existing retail shareholder base, the Company also intends to offer its existing retail shareholders a "Retail Offer" of new Ordinary Shares at the same Issue Price as the Placing (the "Retail Offer Shares" and together with the Placing Shares the ("Fundraising Shares").
The Company will release a separate announcement regarding the Retail Offer and its terms. For the avoidance of doubt, the Placing is separate from and does not form part of the Retail Offer.
Use of Proceeds:
The Placing's proceeds will firstly be employed to enable the acquisition of the Company's first salt cavern hydrogen storage site in the East Yorkshire salt basin, the UK's most extensive and thickest salt deposit and a key nationally strategic area for future hydrogen and existing natural gas storage. The acquisition of this site, along with the Company's Dorset sites, would provide the Company with one of the largest single portfolios of potential salt-cavern storage sites in the UK.
The Company has a unique window of opportunity to acquire long term purchase and leasehold rights to the property, which lies firmly in the Government's East Coast Track #1 Hydrogen cluster and within the UK's largest CO2 emissions cluster, both prime targets within the Government's Clean Power 2030 strategy. The property also lies adjacent to the first construction phase of the proposed Project Union national hydrogen pipeline network, planned to connect hydrogen producers, hydrogen-to-power stations, hydrogen storage and end users in the East Coast Cluster and Teesside.
The envisaged surface development area, which lies in farmland with direct access to the North Sea for the brine necessary to dissolve the caverns, benefits from strong planning precedence in the area for similar material infrastructure projects, greatly increasing the likely probability of securing the necessary Development Consent Order ("DCO"). A future development would be of a similar material storage capacity to the Company's primary Dorset project.
The proceeds will also permit the Company to acquire all or some of the relevant Intellectual Property relating to prior consented infrastructure developments in the area, as well as helping materially advance the Company's overall hydrogen storage portfolio towards applications for DCO and Government Revenue Support in the First Hydrogen Storage Allocation Round, now expected to launch in Q1 2025.
Additionally, the Company continues in advanced discussions with an energy infrastructure investor regarding participation in UKEn's current Dorset and new Yorkshire projects. We look forward to providing further updates in due course.
Placing Summary
· The Placing raised £500,000 (before expenses) through the issue of 2,000,000,000 Placing Shares at the Issue Price.
· The net proceeds of the Placing will be utilised as described above.
· Participants in the Placing have subscribed on the basis of the customary terms and conditions of the Placing.
Stephen Sanderson UKOG's Chief Executive commented:
"The company has decided to call on additional capital to take advantage of the unique and timely opportunity to further its acquisition of a new hydrogen storage development site in East Yorkshire. The property is located firmly within the government's E. Coast Track #1 hydrogen cluster and adjacent to the first phase of connection to Project Union, the planned national hydrogen pipeline network. Together with our primary Dorset project, the addition of this site will help grow the Company's hydrogen storage portfolio to one of the largest in the UK and position us to take advantage of the government's planned Hydrogen Storage Allocation Round in 2025."
Placing Information
The Placing has not been underwritten by CMC and is conditional inter alia on the placing agreement dated 18 November 2024 between the Company and CMC (the "Placing Agreement") not having been terminated or breached and the Admission of the Placing Shares to trading. CMC Markets UK Plc ("CMC"), trading as CapX, acted as the Company's sole placing agent in respect of the Placing.
The Placing Shares will be issued, credited as fully paid, and will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue in the capital of the Company, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions (if any) declared, made or paid on or in respect of such shares after the date of their issue.
Admission to trading
Application will be made to AIM for Admission, which is expected to become effective and dealings in the Placing Shares to commence at, 8.00 a.m. on or around 25th November 2024.
Following Admission, the total voting rights in the Company will therefore be 13,140,761,833 and Shareholders will be able to use this figure as the denominator by which they are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
For further information, please contact:
UK Oil & Gas Plc
Stephen Sanderson / Matt Cartwright Tel: 01483 941493
Zeus (Nominated Adviser and Broker)
James Joyce / James Bavister / Andrew de Andrade Tel: 020 3829 5000
CMC Markets (Joint Broker)
Douglas Crippen Tel: 0203 003 8632
Communications
Brian Alexander Tel: 01483 941493
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014, as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.
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