Miller moves to NYSE, eyes Osprey restart

Tennessee oil and gas company is raising its investor profile while ramping up operations on the west side of Alaska’s Cook Inlet

Wesley Loy

For Petroleum News

A Tennessee oil and gas company building its operations in Alaska’s Cook Inlet is also building its profile on Wall Street.

Miller Energy Resources currently trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange as Miller Petroleum Inc.

Beginning April 12, the company expects to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under its new name, Miller Energy Resources Inc., and its current ticker symbol (MILL).

On April 13, Miller representatives will ring the NYSE opening bell, Miller said in a March 30 press release.

The company will continue to trade on Nasdaq until the transition is complete.

“It is gratifying to see Miller’s shares listed on the NYSE as this milestone marks an important step in our ongoing growth efforts by raising the profile of our company within its industry,” said Scott M. Boruff, Miller chief executive.

“We are pleased to welcome Miller Petroleum to the NYSE,” said Scott Cutler, an NYSE executive. “By joining the NYSE, Miller Petroleum is aligning itself with many of the world’s leading energy companies. Miller Petroleum and its shareholders will benefit from the superior market quality and services provided by listing on NYSE Euronext, and we look forward to a strong, lasting partnership.”

Miller is headquartered in Huntsville, Tenn., with offices in nearby Knoxville. It has focused on the Appalachian basin including the Chattanooga shale.

Miller shares closed at $5 on March 30. The company’s shares have seen tremendous growth in recent months. On Dec. 1, 2009, just ahead of the company’s Alaska acquisition, Miller closed at 65 cents a share.

High hopes for Osprey platform

The properties had belonged to California-based Pacific Energy Resources Ltd., which went through a bankruptcy liquidation.

Among the assets Miller and Cook Inlet Energy acquired were the West McArthur River oil field, the West Foreland gas field, and the Redoubt unit including the Osprey offshore platform.

Cook Inlet Energy managers since have focused on bringing shut-in wells back online, and recently reported West McArthur River had reached steady production of about 930 barrels per day.

Now the company is turning its attention to Osprey, the southernmost platform in Cook Inlet. Forcenergy Inc. installed Osprey over the Redoubt Shoal field in 2000, but oil production from the platform has been a disappointment.

The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas has approved a redevelopment plan for the Redoubt unit, clearing the way for Cook Inlet Energy to bring the idle Osprey platform out of “lighthouse mode.”

“Cook Inlet Energy has begun hiring additional field workers and has staff on the Osprey Platform to begin the process of restarting its systems,” said a March 28 press release from Miller. “A hydraulic snubbing unit is under contract and en route to Alaska and should be installed on the Osprey to begin workover operations on three wells in April. Production from those three wells is expected to be online soon thereafter. Additional workovers on Osprey are planned for later this year.”

A snubbing unit is a well servicing apparatus that can safely do many of the same operations as a rig.

The company is “now in position to tap the enormous potential of the Osprey Platform,” said Boruff, the Miller CEO. “At one time production on the platform reached 4,900 barrels per day. I look forward to a return to these levels.”

Boruff continued: “We are initially targeting three wells, two that entail replacement of downhole electrical submersible pumps and should quickly add approximately 400 barrels of oil a day to our production. The third workover entails reactivation of a previously producing gas well. We can then turn our attention to the additional previously producing wells on the platform.”