Buru Energy plans Rafael gas wells for mid-2027, a year later than first signalled

Buru Energy (ASX:BRU) plans to drill and test the Rafael 2H well and recomplete the Rafael 1 well in the June 2027 quarter, according to a statement dated 27 May 2026.

That is later than the company said in January 2026, when it expected the work to take place in the June 2026 quarter.

Why it matters

Rafael, in permit EP 428 in Western Australia, where Buru holds 100% and is operator, is the company's main development project. The wells are part of a resource and flowrate validation program that Buru says is needed to finalise field development planning, support independent reserves certification and underpin binding agreements with midstream partner Clean Energy Fuels Australia. In January the company said it was aiming for first long-term cashflows from 2028 and a final investment decision in the second half of 2026. The company has not restated those dates in the latest statement.

Funding is the open question

Buru put the cost of the 2026 program at about A$40 million. In January it said a global search for a funding partner was under way, targeted to finish in the first quarter of 2026. The company has not said in its latest statements that the partner has been secured.

Buru reported $4.5 million in cash at 30 June 2026. Against $2.6 million of quarterly outgoings, that is roughly 1.8 quarters of funding. In June it raised further capital through a placement of 47.5 million shares at $0.02 each, with free-attaching shares. There were 1,358,660,440 shares on issue in mid-July.

A possible add-on

Buru has said it was evaluating whether to deepen Rafael 2H by about 500 metres to test the Flying Fox prospect, which sits beneath the Rafael field. Buru holds 100% of Flying Fox. It estimates a best-estimate (P50) 247 billion cubic feet of gas and 5 million barrels of condensate, with a 45% chance of success. These are prospective resources, meaning they are undiscovered. The company has not said whether Flying Fox will be included in the revised plan.

Elsewhere in the portfolio

In August, Buru raised its estimate of Ungani oilfield's remaining recoverable oil to 660,000 barrels. The field has been under care and maintenance since August 2023. Buru also holds the Mars prospect (P50 10.6 million barrels of oil, prospective) and several older oil prospects.