Kerogen to invest $63m in UK energy firm

The investment is part of a planned equity subscription by Hurricane that will raise GBP52 million from Kerogen and existing shareholders. Following the subscription Kerogen will hold a 29.9% stake in the company, becoming the single largest shareholder. Completion of the investment is subject to shareholder approval.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to fund the drilling of two wells at Hurricane's Lancaster oil field, according to a statement. The capital will also help the company secure oil field service contracts in order to accelerate production at the field, which is scheduled to produce its first oil in 2019. Kerogen will gain representation on Hurricane's board and on a joint technical committee.

Hurricane specializes in naturally fractured basement reservoirs - underground rock formations where geological processes create networks of cracks where large amounts of oil and natural gas can accumulate. The company owns and operates four licenses in the UK, and has made discoveries of about 200 million barrels of oil equivalent.

With this investment, Kerogen is currently funding five appraisal and development wells in the North Sea; the firm committed up to $100 million to Zennor Petroleum last year. It has also invested in Australian drilling companies AJ Lucas and Twinza Oil, along with HKN Holding, owner of Kurdistan-focused oil and gas developer HKN Energy.

Kerogen is currently investing out of its second energy fund, which launched in 2014 and was reported to have reached a first close last June. Its first fund closed in 2012 at $1 billion.

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• Topics
• Europe
• Greater China
• Infrastructure
• Expansion
• Infrastructure
• United Kingdom
• Hong Kong (China)
• Kerogen Capital
• energy