Buru Energy submits Kimberley gas project to WA EPA, pledges local power by 2029

In early October, Buru Energy formally referred its Rafael conventional gas project to Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority for evaluation. The scheme, situated in the Kimberley’s Canning Basin roughly 85 km south of Derby, will process gas from two co-located wells, targeting daily output of up to 300 tonnes of LNG, plus LPG and condensate. Executive chairman David Maxwell argues the development is the only proven conventional gas resource in the greater Kimberley and could satisfy 100 % of the region’s gas consumption, covering between six and 13 terajoules per day, and supply a quarter to a third of its LPG demand, with excess potentially reaching the northern Pilbara.

Critics from Environs Kimberley, led by Martin Pritchard, label the project a “Trojan horse for fracking,” despite Buru’s insistence that no hydraulic fracturing is involved and that any such activity would require a separate EPA application. The state has largely banned fracking, though the Canning Basin remains an exception. WA Mines Minister Daniel Pastorelli noted the debate reflects differing views. Buru expects an EPA decision by the end of the year and hopes to commence gas production in early 2029.