The company's return to serious field work kicked off with a fracture stimulation campaign at one its two southern Cooper Basin gas exploration wells this month, part of a $105 million, fully funded work program to explore for material unconventional gas opportunities in the Cooper Basin with Origin Energy.

Origin will spend between $25-45 million production testing the two gas exploration wells drilled in the southern JV area last year, Efficient-1 and Ethereal-1, as well as drilling a high-impact gas exploration well in the northern JV area.

Ethereal -1 has already been fracced over seven stages and has been completed for production. An extended 90-day test will now be run, with the data to help refine the fraccing design for Efficient-1.

The 3600m-deep Silverstar-1 will then spud before Christmas targeting basin centred gas in the Permian sandstones.

For the second quarter, revenue was down 6% to $15.7 million for the quarter and was much lower for 2015-16 at $69.3 million, down from $115.9 million in the prior year due to lower production and oil prices.

The company's hedging program earned it around $13 per barrel for an average realised price of $75 per barrel, 7% higher than the horrific first quarter.

In terms of production, output slid 12% to 220,000bbl due to natural field decline, with no new wells brought online in the quarter, giving annual production for 2015-16 of 1.01 million barrels of oil equivalent, at the lower end of guidance and down 26% because of a lack of new production.

Senex aims to fight against that decline with the start-up of the first gas wells at its Western Surat CSG project expected to be online before the end of the year and the Vanessa field joining in by early 2017.

The company will also start producing from 2012's Snatcher-10 well (Senex 60%, Beach Energy 40%) that was completed in the quarter, its first new production in months.

Its forecast is for 2016-17 production of between 800,000boe and 1MMboe, with growth limited by the reduced rate of capital investment deployed since January 2015 and an ongoing focus on cash generation from low-cost operations.

Senex expects to spend $60 - $70 million over the next 12 months on field work in what it calls a "measured ramp up", and is open to upping that budget in the event the oil price recovers.

Senex managing director Ian Davies said the Surat Basin was its major focus for the year ahead, with a mix of appraisal drilling and full field development planning, with sales underpinned by a binding 20 year gas sales agreement with the Santos GLNG project.

Around half of its budget, $30 - $35 million, will be spent on the low-risk CSG project, involving production testing 15 wells on the Glenora and Eos blocks, the construction of associated gas and water infrastructure, and a staged plug and abandonment program over legacy gas wells.

"The Cooper Basin remains core to Senex's growth strategy, and in line with a more optimistic macro outlook we have planned for a measured increase in work activity this year," he said.

Senex plans to invest $30-$35 million on an expanded program of exploration and development

activities in the Cooper Basin, drilling at least six wells primarily targeting reserves replacement, with some exploration into western flank secondary recovery opportunities and Murta tight oil growth projects on this basis where needed.

"Over the last 18 months we have demonstrated our capacity to deliver in a tough environment - we acted quickly to reduce operating costs, capex and G&A, strengthened our balance sheet and remained true to our strategy," Davies said.

The company has also completed its annual reserves statement and, including the gas reserves in the Surat Basin for the first time, posted net 1P reserves of 12.1MMboe, up 181% compared to June 2015 and 2P reserves up 15% to 83.4MMboe.

It represents an organic three-year 2P oil reserves replacement ratio of 104% and combined oil and gas reserves replacement ratio of 370%.

Unfortunately 2C resources were reduced by 128.1MMboe, largely due to the results of the Hornet-1 and Kingston Rule-1 extended production tests, which were at the lower end of expectations, primarily due to higher water saturation levels than forecast.

Cooper has $102 million in cash, up 109% from $49 million at June 2015 and $180 million of total liquidity.