The deal requires Buccaneer to use its jack-up rig to spud two wells in two years at the legacy natural gas field, the first by the end of 2014 and the second by the end of 2015.

Buccaneer operates a unit adjacent to North Cook Inlet called Northwest Cook Inlet, as well as two other offshore fields: the Southern Cross unit and the Cosmopolitan prospect.

All three fields will require a jack-up rig for exploration, and all three have upcoming work commitments imposed by the state. The recently contracted work for the North Cook Inlet unit will require Buccaneer to change its original offshore drilling program for the coming two years, which “may require some discussions with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources,” according to a press release the company issued yesterday.

The deal between ConocoPhillips and Buccaneer involved no money upfront, but ConocoPhillips retained an overriding royalty interest in deeper segment of its leases.

—Eric Lidji