Australian Worldwide Shares Rise After Natural Gas Discovery

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Australian Worldwide Exploration Ltd. gained the most in two weeks after the Sydney-based oil and gas company confirmed a natural gas discovery at the Netherby-1 well off the southeast coast.

Australian Worldwide rose as much as 14 cents, or 4.2 percent, to A$3.45 in Sydney trading. It was at A$3.43 at 12:37 p.m. local time. Adelaide-based Santos, the operator of the drilling venture, advanced as much as 70 cents, or 4 percent, to A$18.15.

The well, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Henry-1 gas find, will be connected by pipeline to the Casino and Henry fields, Australian Worldwide said today in a statement to the exchange. Mitsui & Co. has a stake in the venture.

The partners said in November they would invest A$275 million ($256 million) to develop the Henry field to expand gas sales in Australia's southeastern states. The project to link Henry into the Casino venture would include work to allow the connection of future discoveries at wells including Netherby, Santos said then.

Further wells will be drilled at the Henry field once drilling at Netherby is completed, Australian Worldwide said today.

Santos owns 50 percent of the Netherby-1 venture, while Australian Worldwide and Mitsui each owns 25 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net