Trinidad-Focused Touchstone Raises $30mn

Trinidad-focused Touchstone has raised $30mn through a share placement from institutional and other investors in the UK and Canada, it announced on November 3.

The company plans to use the proceeds to continue its exploration and development at the Ortoire block, where it has made three gas discoveries since last year. The last find was at the Chinook-1 well, which Touchstone plans to test in the first quarter of 2021.

"Following the significant exploration success at Ortoire, which has consistently exceeded our expectations, the placing will allow us to continue our exploration and development activities we have planned for the Ortoire block, as we seek to bring our existing natural gas discoveries onto production and drill further prospective targets," CEO Paul Baay said. "We are delighted by the support we have received from new and existing investors. We continue to thank our shareholders for their ongoing support, and we look forward to continuing to update shareholders as the exploration program continues."

Touchstone operates Ortoire with a 80% interest, while local state-owned partner Heritage Petroleum has 20%.