The company behind plans for lower-volume fracking in Burniston, North Yorkshire, warned today it could go out of business if shareholders did not approve a £3.5m fundraising later this month.

Europa Oil & Gas said if the placing were rejected, the company could face uncertainty about its future as a going concern and lose the EG-08 licence in Equatorial Guinea.

Shares in the company fell 15.82% at the end of trading, down to 1.33p from 1.58p at the close yesterday.

In a statement to investors, Europa said the directors unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favour of the fundraising at a general meeting on Friday 27 February 2026.

The statement warned:

“Should the resolution not be passed, the placing will not proceed and the company will not have sufficient funds to maintain its current interest in the EG-08 licence (held by virtue of a 42.9% holding of Antler Global Limited) nor to continue its other operations and there would be a material uncertainty over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.”

In a separate statement and on X, the company later said the fundraising had conditionally raised gross proceeds of £3.5m, subject to shareholder approval.

Europa said the fundraising would extend its cash runway (the number of months a business can operate before exhausting cash reserves). This would ensure drilling of the Barracuda prospect in Equatorial Guinea, Europa said. It would also “provide additional financial resources for the Company’s ongoing working capital needs”.

Another statement announced a retail offer to raise £350,000, conditional on the completion of the placing.

In November 2025, Europa and its partner, Egdon Resources, announced they were looking to raise more than £6.5m for the Burniston proposals. The money would be spent on a 3D seismic survey (£800,000) and on drilling an appraisal well (£6.4m).

A decision on the Burniston planning application was postponed last month. The government has confirmed it is considering requests by local representatives for it to call in the decision.