Investment firm snaps up stake in oil explorer

A stock market listed investment firm has bought a stake in a Scottish oil and gas business which is focused on interests in Africa.

Aim-listed Adams, which says it targets “special situation investment opportunities”, has bought just under 435,000 shares in Eland Oil & Gas in a deal worth £288,000.

Eland’s core asset is an interest in the OML 40 licence, onshore Nigeria. Production of oil restarted in Janu- ary and in the first six months of the year some $25.6 million (£19.2m) of crude oil was shipped.

Earlier this month the firm said the latest well in its Opuama field in the region had started production, with output of 7,500 barrels of oil per day. The firm described overall production from Opuama as “strong”, yielding some 19,000 barrels a day from three wells.

Eland, founded by a group of industry veterans, floated on Aim in 2012 and raised £118m to help fund the purchase of its Nigerian assets.