A Canadian oil development and production specialist has become the latest company to postpone a listing in London.

Rock Well Petroleum confirmed in early July that it intended to raise between £150 million and £250 million from an IPO on the main market.

Numis and Merrill Lynch had been lined up as joint book runners but its directors decided to delay the admission due to difficult market conditions and claim they remain optimistic about the company’s prospects.

“We will keep our investors apprised of Rock Well’s progress with a view to returning to the market in the future,” they said in a statement.

The board said it has already in advanced discussions to secure funds from an undisclosed institutional investor to allow the company to develop its interests.

Other listings that have been postponed in the past 12 months include IT security developer Sophos and SmartStream, a provider of software for financial services firms.

Rock Well, which has operations throughout the US, uses a new technique to extract stranded oil that is not profitable using conventional oil extraction methods.

Chief executive John Hoak said that the company targets production of 20,000 barrels a day by 2013, excluding planned asset acquisitions.