South America-focused oil and gas hopeful Chaco Resources has raised £1.5 million at 11p.

AIM-quoted Chaco, built out of the remains of mining flop Gold Mines of Sardinia, has won investors' favour since raising £5.1 million at 6p last autumn to appraise prospects in Paraguay and Colombia. From its head office in Surbiton, the company has reached agreement with Ecopetrol, Colombia's national oil company, to farm into the first phase of the country's Alea oilfield by paying up to £4.35 million and will earn 54 per cent of the Puerto Lopez Oeste project by promising to spend £600,000 in the first year.

Chaco says its latest fundraising was undertaken 'to satisfy demand from institutional investors and to provide further working capital'. The move has been well received, with the shares up 2.23p today to 14.3p – leaving technical director Graeme Stephen's recent grant of one million options at 6.86p comfortably 'in the money'.

Chaco Resources	AIM	0pm	p	p
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Other company articles:
Board clearout at Chaco			17/04/2007
Chaco: sell the other half			16/06/2006
Chaco concessions confirmed in Paraguay			09/05/2006
Drillings due this year at Chaco’s Alea field			02/05/2006
Chaco raises £1.5m			17/02/2006