The company is about to drill a development well on the field in coming weeks, and plans to bring into production the gas discovery made during the Communist regime in the Czech Republic. Last year Carpathian brought its Krásná oilfield on line, and is now waiting for snow to clear to resume pumping operations from the two wells.

At Janovice, the target - the Miocene Karpat sandstone reservoir - is divided into two sections. The deeper section (1,030m) contains recoverable (proved and probable) gas reserves of 1,058mmcf while the shallower section (886m) contains recoverable reserves of 590mmcf.

Gas prices in the region are around three times higher than those received by Australian producers.

Carpathian has access to a string of Central European oil and gas fields, most of which were discovered decades ago but not effectively produced. The company's strategy is to develop these low risk fields and use this revenue to develop the larger and higher risk structures in the Vienna Basin and in its northern Moravian acreage.