Australia's Beach Petroleum says has big gas find

PERTH, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Australian oil and gas producer Beach Petroleum Ltd (BPT.AX) has made a significant gas discovery in the Cooper Basin in South Australia state, the company said on Monday, sending its shares up over 8 percent,

Beach Petroleum, a mid-sized producer, said estimates of potential from the Brownlow-1 well were in the range of 7-14 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas, consistent with pre-drill estimates.

The gas discovery at Brownlow-1 gives greater confidence that fields of up to 100 bcf potential may exist along the western area of the Cooper Basin, Beach Chief Executive Reg Nelson said in a statement.

Shares in Beach rose 8.25 percent to A$1.05 by 0105 GMT, outperforming a 2.5 percent gain on the broad S&P/ASX 200 Energy index .AXEJ.

Beach Petroleum is the operator of the well, which is equally held by Beach and Drillsearch Energy Ltd (DLS.AX). (Reporting by Fayen Wong)