Energy B raises £608,000 from family offices for Gatwick restart push
What's the deal? Energy B plc (AQSE: NRGB), the UK-listed company formerly known as Hydrogen Future IndustriesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has raised £607,500 from family office investors through a placing of 5,062,500 shares at £0.12 each. The proceeds will fund technical assessments of the gas and oil potential at its Gatwick energy site in the Weald Basin.
Why now? The raise coincides with the North Sea Transition Authority starting its 90-day review of the licence transfer for PEDL137, which contains the Horse Hill-1 well about 2km north of Gatwick airport. That review began on October 20, 2026, and is expected to conclude in January 2027.
What's the endgame? Energy B is buying full control of the Gatwick site and aims to restart production, which has been suspended since 2024. The latest placing follows a £100,000 raise announced three days earlier, taking the combined new equity to £707,500 before acquisition costs.
By the numbers: The site has drawn roughly £40 million of investment since 2014 and produced about 200,000 barrels of oil before testing was suspended. As of December 31, 2024, it held gross 2C contingent resources of 2.6 million barrels.
What could go wrong? A restart depends on more than funding. The Supreme Court quashed the site's 2019 planning consent in June 2024 over an incomplete emissions assessment, and Surrey County Council is still reviewing a retrospective application. Completion of the acquisition also remains conditional on NSTA consent.
The signal: The round is small — in the bottom few percent of deals by size — and reads as financing for a high-risk, permit-dependent plan, not proof that production is near. For now, Energy B's restart hinges on two regulators clearing the way.
Read more: kalkinemedia.com
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