Bass Oil highlights Bunian 6 and Vanessa as twin growth catalysts

Bunian 6 delivers a strong production test

Bass Oil Limited (ASX:BAS) is positioning its Indonesian Bunian 6 well as the immediate engine of growth after the well produced 1,280 barrels of oil per day on test. The result came from the TRM3 and K1 reservoirs, as expected, as well as a newly identified oil-bearing zone.

The company says the high-quality M sand contributed to the result. Bunian 6 has been completed and is expected to be brought online after testing, but the test rate is not yet equivalent to a confirmed sustainable production rate. Bass plans to update its static and dynamic reservoir models before assessing the impact on field reserves.

That distinction matters for a company with a market capitalisation of A$24.2 million and A$3.2 million of net cash at 30 June 2026. A successful tie-in could improve production and revenue, but the presentation does not provide a firm ongoing rate, timing beyond the testing phase, or revised reserves figure.

Vanessa targets first gas before year-end

Bass is also aiming to enter the East Coast Gas Market through the Vanessa field by late 2026. The project includes an existing processing facility and pipeline connection to the Cooper Basin network, with recommissioning and the start of gas sales listed as the next steps.

Vanessa is being presented as more than a near-term sales project. Bass says the field could support further appraisal of conventional, tight and coal gas pay, including a 2U prospective resource estimate for the deep coals in PEL 182 of 568 billion cubic feet of gas and 22.7 million barrels of condensate. Those are prospective resources, not booked reserves, and the presentation says further well and fracture-design work is required.

Kiwi offers a larger but longer-dated prize

The third leg of the strategy is the Kiwi gas field in South Australia's northern Cooper Basin. A production test recorded 4.1 million cubic feet per day of gas and 988 barrels of condensate per day, while Bass says Kiwi contains more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent of 2C contingent resources.

Bass's screening economics put Kiwi's after-tax net present value at more than A$20 million. The company also says the South Australian Government has awarded a A$3.5 million grant towards a cornerstone pipeline project, while engineering front-end-end design studies are progressing and funding options to accelerate development are under review.

Reprocessed 2026 seismic data has improved the company's view of the basement architecture, depositional model and potential traps around Kiwi. Bass says the work has identified additional anticlinal structures and possible fault or stratigraphic traps, but those interpretations remain part of an ongoing Triassic gas study rather than a development decision.

The presentation gives Bass a credible sequence of potential catalysts: bring Bunian 6 into production, recommission Vanessa and establish gas sales, then decide how aggressively to fund Kiwi and PEL 182 appraisal. The immediate test is whether the Bunian rate survives beyond the test period; the more consequential question is whether the company's modest cash position can support several development ambitions at once.