From March this year to June, Nexus shares traded around the 3.6 to 3.8 cent mark, except where it drifted to 2.5c briefly in early May before coming back to rest at the previous levels for the next month.

Yesterday Nexus topped 8c while today it has dropped back to around 6c.

Nexus chief Ian Tchacos said the run was not on the back of an imminent asset deal, rather he said the share price interest was driven very much by what exploration acreage Nexus had picked up recently.

Tchacos has also been trying to get some cash flow into the company, in the form of a production asset but said there has not yet been a deal they have been wanting to do.

Tchacos took the Nexus helm a year ago and has been rebuilding the company's portfolio. He farmed in for 10% of Empire Oil's unsuccessful Eclipse well in May but more recently has picked up VIC/P54, located in the offshore Gippsland Basin and NT02-4, located in the Bonaparte Gulf.

VIC/P54 contains the Long Tom gas discovery, found by the oil-seeking BHP in 1995, which at a mid range case of 100 bcf, Tchacos says is favourably comparable to OMV's Patricia Baleen gas project which contains around 80 bcf.

There has been a capital raising earlier this month, adding $240,000 to the coffers by issuing six million shares at four cents. The recent spurt has seen a tidy paper profit for a firm named Holdex Nominees, which picked up a third of the offering. Also in the money from that raising are Beck Corporation Pty Ltd, Boliber Pty Ltd and Commonwealth Custodial Services Limited.