Strike Energy targets mid-2029 first gas from West Erregulla after choosing Hancock plant

Strike Energy (ASX:STX) is targeting first gas from its West Erregulla project in the Perth Basin, Western Australia, in 2029. On 31 August the company said it expects first gas in mid-calendar 2029, after a final investment decision (FID) on the upstream development in FY28.

The 2029 target was set out at an industry conference on 1 April 2026. The 31 August update put more detail around it and changed how the project will be processed.

What changed

Strike has chosen Hancock Energy's proposed Belisama plant to process West Erregulla gas. It will pay a fixed capacity charge. Strike also has a term sheet for a loan of up to $30 million from Hancock, which needs consent from Macquarie. That consent is not yet confirmed.

Why it matters

Strike is a small Western Australian gas producer. Its only producing field named in recent updates is Walyering, which made 0.99 PJe in the June quarter and earned $13.1 million in sales revenue at about $7.09 per GJ. Production was cut by 27 days of compressor downtime. Cash rose to $46.3 million, with $0.3 million of debt undrawn.

Walyering's 2P reserves are up to 16.4 PJ, from 13.6 PJ a year earlier, but 1P reserves fell to 6.1 PJ from 11.2 PJ. West Erregulla would be a second source of gas. If it succeeds, it would reduce the company's reliance on Walyering. Strike has not stated a resource figure for West Erregulla in the material reviewed here.

Other assets carry only prospective resources, which are unproven. They include Booth (P50 279 bcf of gas, 25% interest, stated April 2024) and Becos (P50 5 mmbbl of oil, 25% interest, stated March 2025).

What is uncertain

• West Erregulla's upstream FID has not yet been taken.
• The Hancock loan depends on Macquarie's consent.
• Strike's other near-term project is also running late. The 85 MW South Erregulla power station had a 1 October 2026 online target. Western Power's network commissioning slipped to 21 July, and approval to generate is now targeted for late in the December quarter.
• A tie-in decision for the Walyering West-1 well is expected in the December quarter.
• CFO Tim Cooper will step down by 29 September 2026, and a search for a successor has begun.

A 1 September webinar titled "West Erregulla Unlocked" has been published, but the available pages show only the disclaimer, so it adds nothing confirmed.