Without it, it is hard to see how, come 2015, a yawning gap between gas supply in the eastern states' markets and what is required for both domestic consumption and the fleet of liquefied natural gas export projects being built at Gladstone is going to be filled.
On top of what the Cooper Basin can deliver, higher gas prices for all is going to be part of the supply solution, as will be the drilling of thousands of coal-seam gas wells in Queensland and NSW, assuming of course that farmers, wineries, horse stud owners and others don't succeed in further locking out the industry.
That's all very interesting and has already led to a revival of investor interest in the Cooper Basin, plus the entry of major energy groups such as BG and Chevron which, more than most, understand the critical role that the Cooper Basin is going to play in meeting that yawning gas supply gap from 2015.
...But enough about gas. It is oil that remains the quick and high-margin end of the business in the Cooper Basin as much as anywhere else. And while the big gas story has valuation implications for the small to mid-tier players in the Cooper Basin, it is the region's potential for smallish but sweet oil pools that is today's interest.
It is on that score that the lightly explored Western flank of the Cooper Basin has been creating some excitement, with the application of hi-tech 3D seismic surveys showing up Jurassic oil pools that previously could not been seen.
Sift through the players in that space and they are all pretty much fully valued due to a combination of both their oil upside and their conventional/unconventional gas positions.
That's why a little thing called Planet Gas (PGS) could be worth watching. At yesterday's price of 1.9c a share it was being valued by the market at all of $10.1 million. Thanks to a recent deal with Senex Energy (SXY) on the PEL 514 block, Planet is now holding about $5.3m in cash.
More to the point is that the deal, which reduced Planet's stake in PEL 514 from 40 per cent to 20 per cent, gives Planet an effective free ride for as much as $45m of oil exploration in PEL 514, with the first two wells due to be drilled before the end of November and with plenty more to come after that.
In these straitened times, it's the sort of leverage to exploration upside that juniors dream about. There are also a couple of other value kickers for Planet in the deal with Senex.
The deal also specifies conditional payments to Planet, including a $7.5m capped royalty on all oil production and up to $10m in additional payments should 12 million barrels of oil (proved and probable) be certified.
So Planet will be cheering Senex on to success more than most, helped in the bleachers by Rob Millner's New Hope, which has just under 20 per cent of Planet, a stake the coal group has held since 2009. The funny thing there is that back in 2009, Planet's main go was coal bed methane exploration.
But last week it quit its Sydney and Gunnedah Basin coal-seam gas interests in the face of NSW's hostile environment for the industry, leaving the Cooper Basin as its main game
