The proceeds of the placement will be used to fund the Galoc oil project in the Philippines, as well as seismic and other exploration activities in the Palawan Basin, offshore Philippines and in the North Sea. Some of the funds will be used as general working capital.

“The development planning on the Galoc project is proceeding as planned, with a view toward achieving production start-up by first quarter 2007,” managing director Dave Whitby said.

The capital-raising venture would also let Nido pursue other potential transactions, including the consolidation and growth of its core Philippines asset base, according to Whitby.

The company has entered into discussions over possible exchange of some of its Philippine assets and is also considering negotiating, structuring and concluding a transaction in relation to its North Sea assets to maximise their value.

Under the new placement, Nido will initially issue 95,257,000 shares under its 15% placement facility. The balance is subject to shareholder approval.

The shares will be primarily placed to a wide range of institutional investors based in Australia, the UK, the US and Hong Kong. Nido said a significant number of these institutions would be new to the company share register.

Patersons Securities is the lead manager to the placement.