Echo Energy jumps ahead after reporting interim results

In a separate release issued on the back of its interims, the company advised that 21.8m of its shares previously held by Brandon Hill Capital, had been purchased by a new investor syndicate.

Formerly known as Independent Resources, the company had already begun pursuing a "bold and adventurous upstream growth strategy," with its main focus being on the Central and South American regions.

“We have already taken our first steps of creating the building blocks of a mid-cap E&P (exploration and production) company alongside building a portfolio with multi-Tcf (trillion cubic feet) potential,” said Fiona MacAuley, Echo chief executive officer.

In July, Echo signed an agreement for a second acquisition in Bolivia, the Rio Salado Block, which surrounds the Huayco Block that the firm secured an 80% operating interest in after signing a joint evaluation agreement with Pluspetrol for the land at the southern end of the country.

The group announced it had raised £25.5m of cash and equivalents during the reporting period which it expected to put toward securing further asset transactions in Bolivia, Argentina and the Caribbean in the near future.

It also noted a pre-revenue exploration loss of £1.6m.

MacAuley commented: "The coming months will see your new management team add more assets to the portfolio, continue to develop our regional partnerships and assess merits of a number of opportunities across the LatAm region where we will be focussed on delivering access to high value assets based on rigorous technical and commercial analysis."

As of 0900 BST, shares had gained 18.68% to 11.50p.