A Texan oil and gas exploitation company is to add new assets to its portfolio after raising almost £40 million by joining AIM.

Resaca has been valued at some £120 million through the move and now has the capital to finance its planned exploitation programme in West Texas and Southeast New Mexico as well as buying new interests.

Joint brokers Seymour Pierce and RBC Capital Markets placed 41 million of the company’s shares at 130p each.

Resaca chief executive Jay Lendrum described investor response to the placing as “encouraging” during challenging economic times.

Houston-based Resaca uses a variety of primary, secondary and tertiary techniques to recover oil from its long-life properties. Its plans to double or triple recovery rates from its oil fields by using techniques and procedures include injecting sequestered CO2 into oil reserves.

“These methods will not only enable the company to double or triple production rates, but will also benefit the environment by reducing emissions into the atmosphere,” Lendrum said.

In January, Resaca had proved and probable reserves of 28.1 million barrels of oil and 19.3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas.