TomCo and TruboShale agree to restructuring

The AIM-traded firm said that, as part of the restructuring, TomCo and TurboShale agreed that TomCo would provide the necessary funding to take TurboShale through to the completion of the proposed field test programme, estimated to cost around £0.5m.

It said it was in discussions over the securing the funding, with further announcements to be made as appropriate.

“Whilst the directors are confident of securing the requisite funding, there is no guarantee that the company will be successful in its efforts to raise the field test programme funding or as to the terms of such funding,” the board cautioned.

As it set out in its announcement on 9 April, TomCo said the field test programme was expected to take four to six months to complete following securing the requisite funding, and would comprise of the re-running of the historical test programme in order to obtain data to confirm the validity and efficacy of TurboShale's technology in the Holliday Block for extracting oil shale on a commercial basis.

That historical test programme was based on a historical programme conducted by a group of oil majors in the early 1980s, with the ultimate goal being to move towards production on the company's Holliday Block leases.