Barryroe warns it has just three weeks of cash left after permit refusal

The company said it has around three weeks of working capital (€176,000) and is obliged under stock market rules to publish its annual accounts for 2022 by June 30.

Hitting pause on the planned capital raising has created going concern issues that will delay the publication of its annual accounts, Barryroe said.

If the company is unable to publish its accounts by June 30, then trading in its shares will be suspended from 7am on 3 July, 2023, it said.

Barryroe said talks to secure finance from its substantial shareholders are still ongoing, but with no guarantee they will be successful.

"If funding is not secured in the short term, one of the options being considered by the board is an orderly wind down of the company in a process of Creditor Voluntary Liquidation (CVL),” the company said.

Barryroe shares fell sharply on Thursday after it said it had cancelled the plan to raise up to €20m in working capital to fund exploration for fossil fuels off the Cork coast.

The company, formerly Providence Resources, said in a stock market announcement on Thursday that it could no longer proceed with the share sale that was announced on April 6.

Barryroe blamed the “surprising and extremely disappointing decision” by the Environment Minister Eamon Ryan to turn down its application for a permit to explore a prospect in a licence area 50km off the south-west coast.

The refusal and subsequent abandonment of its capital raising plans has put Barryroe in a difficult financial position, with the company warning that the disruption has “created going concern issues for the company”.

“The company has very limited working capital and is engaging in discussions with its substantial shareholders in relation to potentially funding for the company going forward,” it said in its statement.

The company said it is “considering all options” in relation to the decision and will update the market on further action and its financing situation as soon as possible. The company said last month that it hadn’t ruled out a legal challenge.

Minister Ryan turned down Barryroe’s permit application on May 19, creating a conundrum for the company.

Barryroe said the minister was not satisfied with the financial capability of the applicants.

The department said in a statement to the Irish Independent that its decision followed extensive engagement over several years between the applicants and its Geoscience Regulation Office in relation to the application.

The permit area is home to the Barryroe undersea prospect, discovered in 2012, and tipped by the company to hold potentially billions of euro worth of oil and gas.

More than a decade later Barryroe has failed to turn the prospect into a reality and to secure financial backing to develop its plans.

Barryroe Offshore had an 80pc stake in the prospect licence alongside partner Lansdowne Oil & Gas.