As if trumpeting an oil discovery in the US wasn’t good enough, Westralian Gas and Power chairman Peter Briggs has made the most of his company’s soaring share price by offloading some of his equity.
A director’s interest notice filed with the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday shows that Mr Briggs sold 700,000 Westralian shares for $218,746.50, at an average price of 31.2¢, last Thursday.
The sale was made at the same time as Westralian announced that its Riddle Well No.13 in the US State of Kentucky had struck so much oil that drilling had to be stopped.
The oil discovery prompted Westralian’s shares to soar as high as 39¢ before closing at 33¢ on Thursday, up 19.5¢ for the day on trading volume of 31.4 million.
Until the Well No. 13 strike, Westralian’s share price had been languishing between 10¢ and 18¢. It has since retreated to yesterday’s 21¢ close.
The director’s notice shows Mr Briggs retains 11.47 million shares as well as preference shares and options, although he has since sold more stock which is yet to be reported to the ASX.
Mr Briggs said the investor excitement surrounding the Well No.13 discovery had provided enough trading volume in Westralian shares for him to be able to sell a parcel of stock without affecting the share price.
“It wasn’t the case of having no confidence in the company, not at all, I have great confidence in the company and I am working on the company being worth many dollars a share,” he said.
Westralian managing director Stephen Thomas also made the most of the company’s short-term share price re-rating, selling one million shares on Friday for $333,725.91, or an average of 33.4¢.
PETER KLINGER
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