Magnolia Petroleum completes share placing

Magnolia Petroleum's work to shore up its balance sheet amid a tough oil price environment came to fruition on Monday, with a discounted fundraising of £300,000 via the issue of 214.3m new shares at 0.14p each.

The AIM-traded US onshore oil firm said the proceeds of the placing would be used to reduce the company's net debt position.

Magnolia's chief operation officer, Rita Whittington, said the company's directors had been focused on ensuring the business was well-placed to withstand an extended period of the current oil price downturn.

"A comprehensive review is underway to realign our cost base with today's markets and in tandem with this, the net proceeds of the placing will be used to reduce net debt and further strengthen Magnolia's balance sheet," she said.

"While we have no control over the direction of the oil price or how long the current downturn will last, we are taking every measure to ensure Magnolia is well-placed for when sentiment and activity recovers," she added.

The placing shares were equivalent to 16.8% of the enlarged issued share capital.

Application had been made for the admission of the placing shares to trading on AIM, and it was expected that would occur at 0800 GMT on 18 February.