North Sea focused oil and gas development company Orcadian Energy plc said on Wednesday said it is planning an initial public offering on London’s AIM market to raise £5 million.

London-based Orcadian, formerly called Pharis Energy Ltd, said its key asset is its 100% interest in the Pilot oilfield “with audited proven and probable reserves” of 78.8 million barrels.

“The directors believe that no other company has undertaken an IPO on AIM with more proven and probable reserves since 2006, and that when ranked by 2P reserves this will be the largest, UK focused oil and gas IPO on AIM since the market was launched in 1995 …” said Orcadian.

“The company plans to develop, in phases, the Pilot Oilfield (comprising Pilot Main and Pilot South) and its other key discoveries Elke, Narwhal and Blakeney, using a polymer flood approach.

“There is also potential for other prospects within the group’s licence areas to be developed using the same method (such as Bowhead and the Elke satellites) if future drilling successfully confirms their suitability …”

Orcadian Energy CEO Steve Brown said: “Orcadian was founded in 2014 to find the best way to develop the Pilot discovery.  

“Since then, we have added to our resource base, but most importantly we have created a technically mature, feasible development plan for Pilot, based upon the injection of polymerised water right from the start of production.

“Polymer flooding is well proven and, when implemented early in field life, can significantly reduce emissions from viscous oilfields.

“In addition, we have identified further opportunities to reduce emissions to remarkably low levels.

“Admission to AIM will give the company access to some of the capital we need to transform our plans into actionable projects.

“We look forward to welcoming new investors as we progress this next phase of development of our North Sea oilfields.”