BRISBANE, Australia—The Cooper Basin has been a cornerstone of Australia’s oil and gas industry for years—but the best for the sprawling play might be yet to come.

That’s the opinion shared by two Cooper operators in a panel discussion during Hart Energy’s 2nd annual DUG Australia conference and exhibition in Brisbane. Both termed the basin’s prospects “world-class,” and “super” was a common adjective used to describe it.

“We’re working on a play that is rapidly coming together” as unconventional development complements the Cooper’s conventional production, David Wrench, founder and managing director of Strike Energy Ltd. (ASX: STX.AX), told the conference. The firm, with a market capitalization of $92 million, has been focused on its Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project, located south and west of Moomba, South Australia.

Strike also has been active in North American unconventional plays in the Eagle Ford and Permian Basin, along with the conventional Wilcox Trend.

“It has been a very interesting experience having investments in the U.S and really observing firsthand how the U.S. industry approaches unconventional plays. Although the geology is different, the approach has been similar,” and that has refined Strike’s exploration and development plans for the Cooper, Wrench said.

Strike’s PEL 94, 95, 96 and CO2013-B permits sprawl across more than 1 million acres—not a particularly big block by Australian standards—and represent “a very large gas resource,” he said. What makes the blocks stand out in midstream-infrastructure-short Australia is that they “are ideally located with direct access to infrastructure connecting to eastern Australian gas markets. We’re literally under a pipeline,” Wrench pointed out. “We want to develop these resources in a very short time.”

Three test wells drilled to the Patchawarra coals some 90 kilometers (56 miles) apart had good tests following fracture stimulation. A fourth well was perforated only. All four have had limited commercial production. “We’re moving quite rapidly through from a discovery only two years ago,” he said.

Wrench’s presentation noted “the foundations of this play are a large, high-deliverability resource with low cost completion potential.”

Strike’s constraint, as for many small producers, is capital, Wrench said. “For a small company, capital is the key.” Given proper funding, Strike hopes to reach full-scale commercial production by 2017 from what the managing director described as a “world-class” play; a potentially large, low-cost gas resource with high deliverability. A key will be moving ahead to reach key mileposts toward commerciality the firm has set for this year and 2015.

Ray James, managing director of Icon Energy Ltd. (ASX: ICN.AX, OTC: ICNOF), echoed Wrench’s optimistic view of the Cooper in his presentation. But stepping out beyond the Cooper, James opened his presentation with a broad look at Australia’s multiple—and comparatively lightly explored—sedimentary basins. “If all of the basins come to fruition there will be huge [reserve] numbers,” he said. “But we’re focusing all of our efforts on the Cooper” because of the basin’s great potential and comparatively good infrastructure. He also termed the Cooper “world- class,” adding that it is “one of Australia’s most prospective basins.”

Icon holds a 35.1% interest in the ATP 855 block in southwestern Queensland, which covers 414,000 gross acres. Partners include Beach Energy Ltd. (ASX: BPT.AX, OTC: BEPTF) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX). Beach currently serves as operator but Chevron can farm-in as operator following completion of a second exploration and development phase.

Six unconventional wells have been drilled on ATP 855 to date, targeting a Permian-age play, and all had “significant” gas shows, James said. However, the Permian in the Cooper is an overpressurized and high-temperature formation, and those attributes will require more work to make the play commercial.

Having Chevron, “one of the top firms in the world,” as a partner with its extensive research and development capabilities is proving to be a valuable asset, he added.

Perhaps unlike some Australian producers, Icon counts on rapid growth in domestic gas demand as a driver behind development. James said eastern Australia’s June-to-September winter gas demand will triple between 2012 and 2016. But, he added, Icon doesn’t discount the large market for Australian-produced LNG, which could reach 85 million tonnes per year as the nation’s large liquefaction projects come online.