NiMin Energy Corp., an independent oil company based in Carpinteria, has raised $4 million in a private placement with an Australian bank.

NiMin owns and drills onshore oil fields near Bakersfield and in Wyoming and southern Louisiana. It said the money will go toward developing its assets near Bakersfield.

NiMin said it sold 2.7 million units of the company at $1.45 each to Macquarie Bank Ltd., an Australian firm that specializes in mining and energy, to raise just shy of $4 million. The units are one common share and one half of a warrant to buy a common share at $1.60 over the next three years. Byron Capital Markets Ltd. placed the deal for a cash commission worth about $220,000.

Most of NiMin’s common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They were down less than 1 percent to $1.28 in Canadian currency, about $1.31 in U.S. dollars on Sept. 1. The deal was announced after the markets closed.