Eland Oil & Gas, a Nigeria focused upstream petroleum company, will become a part of the FTSE AIM 50 Index from December 24, 2012, a statement said last week.

FTSE AIM 50 Index comprises of the 50 largest UK incorporated companies on AIM by market capitalisation. Eland qualified for the FTSE AIM 50 by dint of its high market capitalisation (approximately £150million) and strong liquidity.

Inclusion in the index does a number of things for the company, including increasing its visibility to investors and triggers analyst coverage; widens the investor base by attracting newer classes of investors; helps in comparing the company’s performance against a peer group and supports liquidity and future capital raising.

Eland Oil & Gas was admitted to AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s specialised market for growth companies, on September 3, 2012 having raised £118million.

It has a significant financial and operational interest in the Oil Mining Lease, OML-40 field located onshore Niger Delta.

Commenting on Eland’s inclusion in FTSE AIM-50, Head of Primary Markets for Africa at the London Stock Exchange, Mr. Ibukun Adebayo, said: “Eland Oil and Gas has qualified for FTSE AIM 50, an index of top UK incorporated AIM companies, within three months of joining the market. This is a clear demonstration of the exciting growth potential for smaller Nigerian companies and testament to London and international investors’ willingness to support ambitious, fast-growing companies.”

AIM is the London Stock Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies. A wide range of businesses including early stage, venture capital backed as well as more established companies join AIM seeking access to growth capital, making it the most successful growth market in the world.

Since its launch in 1995, over 3,000 companies from across the globe have chosen to join AIM.