The federal and state governments have awarded Strike Energy with a $2 million grant and streamlined approvals for the company's fertiliser project in the Mid West.
Strike Energy has bought $22 million worth of shares in joint venture partner Warrego Energy, effectively raising its exposure to the West Erregulla development in the Perth Basin.
As the big offshore gas projects planned for WA's north face more delays and uncertainty, the prospects for developing onshore gas fields in the Perth Basin get better.
Warrego Energy has received commitments to raise $15 million from a two-tranche share placement, with the proceeds to go towards drilling at its West Erregulla development in the Perth Basin.
Strike Energy has partnered with the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) to build and operate one of the largest onshore gas facilities in Western Australia in a deal worth more than $200 million.
Flow tests from the deepest well ever drilled in Australia are expected within days, but it has already refocused attention on the oil and gas industry in the Perth basin.
Strike Energy shares have surged 90 per cent and Warrego Energy's by 68 per cent after the joint venture partners announced a significant gas discovery as part of the West Erregulla-2 drilling campaign in the Perth Basin.
Strike Energy has executed a $5 million sales option with Wesfarmers subsidiary CSBP, for up to 100 petajoules of gas from its half-owned West Erregulla project.
David Biggs has been appointed as a non-executive director at Petrel Energy and Warrego, subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting in March.
The entry of two European energy companies into WA will help to bolster activity in the onshore oil and gas sector, which is set for a pick-up after a series of disappointments.
