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Buccaneer picks up Cosmo acreage; moves Endeavour to Southern Cross
Buccaneer Energy Ltd. has acquired more acreage at its Cosmopolitan prospect.
The Australian independent has picked up four Apache Alaska Corp. leases adjoining its oil and gas field off the coast of Anchor Point, according to a Sept. 2 announcement.
The leases are ADL 391899, ADL 391902, ADL 391903 and ADL 391904.
Buccaneer declined to divulge the terms of the deal, but described it as “not material.”
Buccaneer operates the Cosmopolitan prospect and holds a 25 percent interest in the leases. The Fort Worth-based BlueCrest Energy LP holds the remaining 75 percent.
When Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska Inc. terminated the former Cosmopolitan unit in early 2011, it kept ADL 384403 and ADL 18790 — two leases with wells certified as capable of producing in paying quantities — but relinquished all its remaining acreage.
With the relinquished acreage containing a known an oil resource, the state placed special terms on those three tracts in a June 2011 lease sale. The terms required the operator to submit a plan of exploration for the tracts within six months of getting the leases, and also to commit to drill and complete at least one well by the fourth year of the leases.
Only Apache bid, putting down $70 an acre for the block, or a total of $613,690. The state issued the leases effective September 2011, but Apache never drilled any wells.
Buccaneer and BlueCrest acquired the two un-relinquished Cosmopolitan leases from Pioneer in 2012 and earlier this year drilled the Cosmopolitan No. 1 well at the prospect.
Announcing the acquisition, Buccaneer said it “believes that the leases have the potential to contain new reserves associated with the Cosmopolitan geological structure.”
Endeavour to Southern Cross The Endeavour jack-up rig that Buccaneer used to drill Cosmopolitan No. 1 recently arrived at the Buccaneer-operated Southern Cross unit, the company announced Sept. 3.
The rig operator has jacked-down Endeavour’s legs and completed preloading operations, including driving conductor pipe, according to Buccaneer. The company must now finish installing its well control equipment and successfully test the equipment before Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission personnel before it can start drilling the well.
Buccaneer is a 100 percent working owner in Southern Cross, but recently executed a farm-out agreement with Los Angeles-based EOS-Petro Inc. The deal allows EOS to earn a 50 percent working interest in the unit by paying for the first two wells there.
—Eric Lidji
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