Buccaneer adds acreage to Kenai Loop project

Buccaneer Alaska is moving closer to drilling at Kenai Loop this spring.

The local subsidiary of an Australian independent has contracted Marathon’s Glacier rig No. 1, a truck-mounted rig used on several other Cook Inlet prospects in recent years.

Buccaneer is moving the rig near the drill site to cut down on mobilization time during spring thaw. The company hopes to drill by mid-April, but said it won’t have a firm spud date until it finalizes several outstanding contracts with service and equipment providers.

Buccaneer also added more Cook Inlet Region Inc. acreage to the prospect, a 1,275-acre lease that “directly offsets” the proposed location for the Kenai Loop No. 1 well.

The company now holds some 9,009 acres from multiple landowners at the onshore play, located just north of the city of Kenai and the Marathon-operated Cannery Loop unit.

Buccaneer, the local subsidiary of an Australian independent, is permitting three well locations and estimates reserves between 35 billion and 78 billion cubic feet of gas.

Kenai Loop No. 1 would be Buccaneer’s first well in Alaska. The company is also looking to purchase a jack-up rig to explore two offshore prospects, and holds additional onshore acreage on both sides of the Inlet that it plans to begin permitting this year.

—Eric Lidji