Bunian 6 gives Bass Oil a stronger production quarter

Bunian 6 pushes quarterly production higher

Bass Oil Limited (ASX:BAS) delivered its strongest production quarter of 2026 after the Bunian 6 well began producing in late September, lifting group output 20.9% quarter on quarter to 23,944 barrels. Net production averaged 260 barrels of oil per day, while sales revenue rose 4.4% to A$2.82 million.

The Indonesian Tangai-Sukananti operation supplied most of the improvement. Bass’s 55% share of production reached 16,390 barrels, up 30.9% from the June quarter, with net entitlement after Indonesia’s Domestic Market Obligation at 14,203 barrels. Field production has since stabilised at approximately 700 bopd, compared with 250 bopd before the new well entered service.

Bunian 6 initially produced 797 bopd from the M sand with a 1% water cut during testing. The company says it expects the well to repay its drilling cost by January 2027, although it has not yet quantified the well’s effect on field reserves or revised its production strategy. The result builds on the Bunian 6 well launch, which earlier reporting said had lifted Bunian output above 800 bopd on a 100% field basis.

Cooper Basin sales recover after rain disruption

Bass’s wholly owned Worrior and Padulla fields continued to operate reliably, recording 99% uptime and producing 7,554 barrels during the quarter. But sales fell 20.9% to 6,178 barrels after July rain events closed roads and delayed trucking. Transport resumed in August, with oil stocks returning to normal levels by the end of September.

That disruption cut Cooper Basin revenue to A$0.94 million from A$1.25 million in the June quarter, despite production increasing 3.7%. Group realised pricing was reported at US$97.27 per barrel in the highlights, while the filing separately reported US$105.69 for Cooper Basin oil and US$88.84 for Indonesian production. Bass has no oil hedges, leaving realised revenue exposed to benchmark and Indonesian ICP pricing.

Vanessa gas project moves into execution

The Vanessa gas field recommissioning project remains on budget and scheduled for start-up by year end. Bass completed a pipeline coating integrity survey without identifying defects, recommissioned the site generator and sent pressure safety valves for recalibration and recertification. Regulatory documentation for the facility restart is being prepared, with further site work and export-pipeline hydro-testing planned.

Vanessa includes a processing facility and a five-kilometre pipeline connected to the Cooper Basin network, creating a route to first gas sales into the east coast market. The project is now moving from scoping into execution, but the targeted start-up remains subject to regulatory approval and completion of the remaining works. The timing is consistent with the company’s Vanessa gas start-up plan, which earlier reporting identified as a year-end target subject to approval and site work.

Cash falls as drilling and development spending continue

Bass ended September with A$2.07 million in cash, down from A$3.18 million at the end of June. The company attributed the reduction primarily to Bunian 6 drilling costs, while the Appendix 5B recorded A$2.20 million of net investing cash outflows for the quarter. Bass remains debt-free and holds a further A$5.4 million in restricted cash supporting rehabilitation obligations.

Operating activities generated A$1.17 million during the quarter, but the filing’s funding calculation showed total available funding of A$2.07 million and estimated coverage of two quarters. That makes the timing of Bunian 6’s expected payback and Vanessa’s first gas sales financially important, particularly as Bass continues to advance the Kiwi development and evaluate multiple Triassic gas structures along trend with the Kiwi field.

Kiwi appraisal adds longer-dated growth options

GPA Engineering is finalising an updated pre-FEED study for the Kiwi field, with two tie-in options under consideration before a FEED study and eventual final investment decision. Bass also says reprocessed Dundinna 3D seismic has improved imaging of the target reservoirs and identified multiple structures, including an enhanced Kiwi North prospect.

Those opportunities remain earlier-stage than the producing Bunian operation and the Vanessa restart. The immediate test for Bass is whether higher Indonesian production converts into sustained cash generation quickly enough to support the company’s gas ambitions without weakening its currently debt-free balance sheet.