Shareholders in either Strike Energy Ltd (ASX: STX) or Warrego Energy Ltd (ASX: WGO) will be thanking their lucky stars this month after a joint venture operated by the two resources explorers announced a "staggering" WA conventional gas discovery at the West Erregulla project.
The Strike Energy share price has soared 86% from 14 cents to 26 cents since the announcement, while the Warrego share price is up 66% from 18.5 cents to 30.5 cents.
The two companies hold a 50% interest each in the West Eregulla project and this afternoon upgraded their estimates of the recoverable gas at the Kingia field as part of the West Eregulla project to a net pay of 58 metres at a "very high reservoir pressure recorded at 6,814-6,828 psia".
Investors will need a deep expertise on geology and gas exploration to get a grip on what this kind of discovery and reported numbers might be worth commercially.
This afternoon Strike's managing director, Stuart Nicholls said: "The Kingia gas discovery exhibits characteristics of one of the highest quality gas finds onshore Australia. With 58 metres of net pay, this makes West Erregulla 2 the thickest net column seen in any Kingia penetration within the basin to date which is host to the historic Waitsia gas field.
The high reservoir pressures and excellent permeabilities are supportive of a significant recoverable gas resource with gas compositions in-line with the neighbouring Waitsia field."
Strike now has a market cap around $389 million, with Warrego at around $200 million.
Neither company has any revenue or sales for now though and it's likely to be costly to commercialise the gas fields so today's investors must be confident in their research before taking the plunge.
