Dragon Oil shareholders have approved a 25-to-one consolidation of the company's shares, which will reduce the total number of shares in issue to 300 million.
Shareholders voted unanimously at an extraordinary general meeting yesterday, which was held immediately after the annual general meeting concluded. Mr Oliver Waldron, chief executive, said the consolidation of the share capital was appropriate because the number of shares in issue was "disproportionately high relative to the size of the company".
The board of Dragon Oil described as "a major breakthrough" a decision this week by the US to drop its objections to the construction of a natural gas pipeline linking Turkmenistan and Turkey via Iran.
According to Mr Waldron this would have significant benefits for the company, including the selling of gas to new markets.
On the question of a dividend, Mr Waldron said "sufficient cash flow" had not been built up yet to provide a dividend.
He added that drilling in the Block 12/32 in Thailand, a joint venture with Texaco, had the potential to aid a strong share price.