Pioneer increases interest in Cosmopolitan

Pioneer Natural Resources has picked up another 40 percent interest in the Cosmopolitan unit in Alaska’s Cook Inlet basin, giving the Dallas-based independent a total working interest of 50 percent. The company has also taken over operatorship of the offshore unit from ConocoPhillips Alaska.

Prior to Pioneer’s involvement in the field three wells and a sidetrack were drilled in the Cosmopolitan field, establishing what Pioneer described in a June 6 press release as “a significant oil column.”

Pioneer and its co-owners Devon Energy, Forest Oil and ConocoPhillips acquired and interpreted a recent 3-D seismic survey over the unit and are “evaluating options for further appraisal work to refine the estimate of recoverable reserves,” Pioneer said.

The 25,000-acre unit is approximately 120 miles southwest of Anchorage and two miles from the shoreline of the Kenai Peninsula.

Ownership in Cosmopolitan is as follows:

ConocoPhillips 20% (previously 60%)

Pioneer 50% (previously 10%)

Devon 17.5% (unchanged)

Forest 12.5% (unchanged)

—Kay Cashman