Replies to post #27 on TAG Oil Ltd (TAOIF)

[eatlikeahippie]

AEN selling at $1.07 today and issuing shares at $1.20. I have seen this in Canadian stocks when the big money wants shares but doesn't want to drive price. Think it is great news for us:)

Austral Pacific Arranges US$15m Financing


Last update: 8:58 p.m. EST Dec. 18, 2007Print E-mail RSS Disable Live Quotes

WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Dec 18, 2007 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. (CA:APX: news, chart, profile) (AEN:AEN
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Financials
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AEN, , ) has signed agreements with a number of accredited investors to privately place 12,500,000 common (ordinary) shares with attached warrants, sold as units at $1.20 per unit. Each unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant. The warrants are convertible one-for-one into the Company's common shares for 12 months after closing at an exercise price of $2.25.
Proceeds from the private placement will be used primarily in connection with accelerating the Cheal field development with a goal of increasing the field reserve base and increasing production through the newly commissioned Cheal Production Station. The proceeds will also fund other appraisal and development projects in Taranaki, New Zealand and PNG and will be used to both progress the Cardiff field appraisal and to complete the cash portion of the previously announced purchase of a further 19% interest in Cardiff.
The placement is subject to stock exchange approvals expected in the ordinary course. A portion of the securities were placed in the United States to accredited investors in reliance on Rule 506 and are subject to resale restrictions in the United States under Rule 144 for a one year period but can be traded under Rule 904 through the TSX Venture Exchange after 4 months which is the basic hold period applicable to all the securities.
Management Comments
Thom Jewell, Austral's CEO commented, "We were pleased to see a strong level of interest in the company's current projects and its inventory of high quality exploration, appraisal and development opportunities. This financing brings us flexibility and allows us to accelerate our onward program to enhance the value of our asset base. We have also significantly extended the Company's base of shareholders as approximately 63% of the shares were placed with investors newly introduced to Austral Pacific."
Operations Update
Austral Pacific (69.5%WI and Operator) has recently announced the successful tie back of the Cheal B site wells into the production facility raising the production for the field to over 750 bopd. The next step in the phased Cheal development is to drill and connect the planned two additional wells, targeting a normalized field production of between 1000 and 1500 bopd.
Austral Pacific has now successfully re-completed the Cardiff-2A ST-1 discovery well with the Parker Rig 252. The rig is scheduled to be released from the site at the end of this week. Detailed testing operations for this well are part of the ongoing field appraisal and development activities that are scheduled for 1st quarter, 2008.
Cardiff lies 3 km (1.8 miles) from Cheal facilities in onshore Taranaki, New Zealand. It is 44.9% owned by Austral, which is also field operator.
About Austral Pacific
Austral Pacific is a listed independent oil and gas exploration and production company registered in Canada with corporate headquarters in Wellington, New Zealand. The Company has an interest in thirteen exploration and production permits totalling over 2.6 million acres in onshore New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The Company's primary assets are the Cheal Field, Kahili Field and Cardiff Field located onshore in the highly prolific Taranaki Basin on the North Island of New Zealand. In Papua New Guinea, the Company has an interest in four onshore blocks.
Austral Pacific Energy (NZ) Limited
Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com
Email: [e-mail]
Phone: Thom Jewell, CEO [phone]
or Brad Holmes: [phone]