KAROON GAS shares rose yesterday after a significant gas find at the Poseidon-1 well in the Browse Basin, WA that boosted ConocoPhillips prospects for expanding its Darwin liquefied natural gas plant.
One analyst said the discovery was potentially one of the biggest in the gas-rich Browse Basin to date and was open-ended, advising future announcements should be keenly watched.
The stock rose 42% to $1.60, to a record high of $5.40 on the news.
The share price hike gives the Victoria-based junior explorer a market value of $735 million.
Karoon said drilling at its Poseidon-1 exploration well 480km north of Broome, which is targeting 5 to 10 trillion cubic feet of gas, had so far intersected more than 200m of gross bearing sand containing hydrocarbons.
The company said the base of the lowermost sand interval is yet to be penetrated.
Conoco has a 51% stake in the WA-315-P permit Poseidon is in and is covering 80% of the drilling costs.
It had previously said a successful find could provide gas for a second LNG production unit, or train, at its Darwin plant.
The find is about 500km from the Bayu Undan field that supplies the Darwin plant.
Poseidon-1 is the first of a multi-well drilling program in three permits in the Browse Basin owned by Conoco and Karoon.
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