(Sharecast News) - Shale oil exploration business TomCo raised £550,000 by way of a placing on Friday morning, allowing the group to further operations at its Holliday Block asset.TomCo placed 27.5m ordinary shares of 2p, with admission expected to take place on 21 December.In addition to funding the ongoing analysis and review of its Holliday Block project in the Uintah Basin, TomCo, which has loans of £250,000 due for repayment on or before 31 March, will also use a portion of the funds raised to repay its loans, if sufficient cash remains."Otherwise the loans shall be automatically extended," noted TomCo.In other news, TomCo has secured seven additional mineral leases covering approximately 12,500 acres with approximately 1.5bn barrels of oil in place located within the same Green River formation as its other two leases in Utah."There will be minimal ongoing costs in respect of these additional leases," noted TomCo.As of 1110 GMT, TomCo shares had crashed 35.71% to 2.25p.