Buru Energy Ltd (ASX:BRU) has spudded the Rafael 1 conventional oil exploration well and is targeting mean prospective resources of 69 million barrels.
Rafael 1, which was spudded on Sunday, is being drilled in Exploration Permit EP 428 in the Canning Basin in northwest Western Australia.
Buru holds a 50% interest in permit EP 428 and Rafael 1 is located approximately 50 kilometres to the east of the currently producing Ungani Oilfield in which Buru has a 50% interest.
Spudding on time and on budget
It has been smooth sailing for Buru in the lead up to spud, with the rig move from the Currajong well site to Rafael 1 coming in on time and budget.
Rafael 1 is targeting a geologically distinct formation to Currajong 1 with significantly larger potential resources and is being drilled on a large structure that is well defined by a modern 2D seismic grid.
It has over 450 metres of mapped closure and is a large regional structure that is interpreted to have similarities to Devonian aged carbonate structures in Western Canada that are very large and prolific oil producers.
The top of the objective section is expected to be encountered below some 3,600 metres.
Buru spudded the Currajong 1 well, the first well in the company’s 2021 Canning Basin exploration campaign, on July 1. Once complete, it moved the rig to the Rafael 1 location.
“We are very excited to be finally drilling the Rafael 1 well. The Rafael prospect has a large geologically highly prospective target that could be transformational for Buru and for Western Australia’s oil sufficiency,” executive director Eric Streitberg said.
“The Ensign 963 rig that is drilling the Rafael 1 well has performed well on the previous Currajong 1 well, and the inter-well move from Currajong to Rafael was completed on time and budget with no incidents.
“We are also very much looking forward to the commencement of the Currajong 1 test program which is aimed at validating our interpretation of the well data and confirming we have encountered a significant oil accumulation.”
Second well to be spudded
Rafael 1 is the second well in the exploration program to be drilled.
Notably, under the terms of the farm-in agreements executed in December, Buru is carried for $16 million of the cost of the drilling of Currajong 1 and Rafael 1.
This is on top of a further significant seismic program carry across several Buru operated permits.
There should now be plenty of news to come from Buru in the coming weeks.
As we await results from the spud at Rafael, Buru is preparing to test the various zones encountered in the Currajong 1 well. This is expected to start in the coming weeks, when the required additional equipment arrives on site.
About Buru
Buru holds interests in an extensive portfolio of petroleum exploration permits covering about 5.4 million gross acres in the Canning Basin.
The company is the operator of all of its exploration permits and has the largest acreage in the Canning Basin.