EnCore Oil says that, in light of current market conditions, exacerbated by the uncertain investment climate created following the recent tax changes, the Board has decided to cancel the flotation of XEO Exploration and the related offer to EnCore shareholders.

Commenting on the decision, EnCore Chief Executive Alan Booth said, "In the few weeks since the Treasury announced substantive taxation changes, the market appetite for UK North Sea exploration has diminished markedly. Against that background, we were encouraged by the indicated institutional support we received for XEO, but given that the whole strategy behind XEO was to pre-fund a ten to twelve well three year exploration programme without the continual need for fundraising, we felt that it was prudent to withdraw the flotation."

Tags: EnCore Oil plc