The company said the Shefcik-1 discovery – its first since listing in August – marked Strike’s transformation from an explorer to an exploration and production company.

This in turn has justified Strike’s entry into the US petroleum market, it said.

Strike's previous three-well Texas program produced a string of dusters. All of its Australian wells have also been dry holes.

Yesterday, the company reported that Shefcik-1 on the Mesquite B Prospect was flowing on test at a stabilised rate of over 6 million cubic feet of gas per day and about 158 barrels of oil condensate.

This would equate to a gross revenue to Strike of A$15,000 per day at US prices of $8 per million cubic feet of gas and $60 per barrel of oil

Managing director Simon Ashton said this was an important step in confirming the commerciality of the discovery.

Final test results from the well will be known within the next week, Ashton said.

Meanwhile, Strike’s Webernick-1 well on the neighbouring Mesquite A Prospect is still awaiting production testing. Webernick-1 produced similar drilling and evaluation results to Shefcik-1, the company said.

In addition, the Shefcik-3 well was spudded on Monday and is currently drilling ahead. Targeting the Wilcox Formations sands, Shefcik-3 has a total target depth of 3719 metres.

Shefcik-3 is about 366 metres south-southwest of the Shefcik-1 well.

Strike holds a 26.25% working interest, or 20-21% net revenue interest, in the Mesquite B and A prospects.