The Explorers 2009: Escopeta Oil & Gas

Escopeta came by the largest unit in the Cook Inlet the hard way. The Houston-based independent first took interest in Alaska in the early 1990s and began accumulating a land position in Cook Inlet by the end of the decade. In 2006, the company planned to drill at the Kitchen and East Kitchen prospects, but canceled the program because of trouble getting a specialty rig to Alaska. At the same time, Escopeta hoped to explore the North Alexander unit near the mouth of the Susitna River, but never did.

The company made more attempts at Kitchen in the years that followed, and almost lost its leases, but got a reprieve this year when the state combined three offshore prospects in upper Cook Inlet into a single unit called Kitchen Lights, making Escopeta the operator of the 83,394-acre unit. Escopeta now has until the end of 2010 to drill a well, but still faces the challenge of getting a jack-up rig — needed for drilling in shallow waters — to Alaska.

Current exploration focus