(Reuters) - Australian gas explorer Comet Ridge <COI.AX> on Tuesday upgraded its share of gas reserves at the Mahalo Gas Project in Queensland state, sending its shares up as much as 20 percent to an 8-year high.
The company said that its net share of proved and probable (2P) reserves had jumped 473 percent to 172 petajoules, while its net share of proved, probable and possible (3P) reserves had risen 71 percent to 374 petajoules.
Comet Ridge is the designated operator and manager of the Mahalo project, in which it has a 40 percent interest in a joint venture with Santos Ltd <STO.AX> and Origin Energy's <ORG.AX> Australia Pacific LNG.
The project could potentially feed the gas-starved eastern Australian market.
"The Mahalo project is now growing to a scale that is very meaningful for both larger JV partners Santos and APLNG, particularly given its proximity to existing pipeline infrastructure," RBC Capital Markets said in a research note.
Comet Ridge shares were trading up 15 percent at A$0.31 at 0205 GMT, in a broader market <.AXJO> up 1.3 percent.
(Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Pullin)
