Po Valley soars on gas discovery

Shares in Perth-based oil and gas explorer Po Valley Energy have skyrocketed today after the company announced a discovery at its Selva gas field in northern Italy.

The company said a recent drilling program intersected two gas reservoirs, which had produced strong gas flows from testing.

Po shares were up 87.5 per cent to 7.5 cents each at 2pm AEDT on the news.

The C2 reservoir produced a peak flow rate of 148,136 square cubic metres per day on a 3/8 inch choke, while the C1 field brought a peak flow rate of 129,658 square cubic metres/day.

Po Valley said the strong flow rates, the high quality methane gas content and the well’s proximity to the Italian national gas grid pipeline connection make it a commercial discovery.

"We are very pleased with the commercial discovery at Selva with our Podere Maiar 1dir well,” chief executive Michael Masterman said.

“The strong flow rates achieved with small pressure differentials and fast recovery are above our expectations.

“We have drilled six gas fields in the Po Valley of Italy and this is PVE’s sixth success – a robust exploration and development record backed by an exceptional management team.”

“The Podere Maiar discovery is very positive for both the Selva development and our nearby exploration target seven kilometres away at Selva East."

Po will analyse the test results during the March quarter and is expecting to provide revised contingent resource and reserve estimates in the June quarter.