The Australian bourse questioned the Melbourne-based company over the rise in the value of its securities from 72.5c last Monday to 91.5c on Friday.

In its response, MEO said it was still in confidential discussions with a “number of substantial international corporations” regarding the farm-out of its exploration permit NT/P68 and participation in its proposed gas-to-liquid, liquefied natural gas and methanol projects.

But it said no farm-in or project agreements have been executed or agreed.

MEO said one possible explanation for the sudden share price hike was the APPEA conference, which highlighted the difficulties of getting regulatory approvals for most proposed LNG projects.

“One speaker specifically noted that MEO’s LNG project was the only proposed Australian greenfield project that has secured its Commonwealth Government environmental approval,” managing director Chris Hart said.

“We surmise that the strategic value of this approval would appear to be increasingly recognised by the market.”

Two other junior LNG-hopefuls also experienced strong gains to their share prices last week.

Karoon Gas closed the week 31% higher at $2.32, while Nexus Energy gained 9.6% to $1.075.