Buccaneer Energy Ltd. recently finished drilling the Cosmo No. 1 well and now plans to test a relatively shallow oil discovery at the Cook Inlet prospect, the company said today.
The local subsidiary of the Australian independent said it has drilled the offshore well to a total depth of 7,599 feet, slightly shallower than its initial target of 8,000 feet. Now, Buccaneer plans to install a 7-inch liner in the well to accommodate a production test of an oil discovery at the base of the Tyonek formation, according to the company.
Buccaneer said it collected 60 sidewall core samples, six hydrocarbon samples (one gas and five oil) and 27 pressure results using a Modular Formation Dynamics Tester.
As previously announced, Cosmo No. 1 encountered oil-bearing sands in the Lower Tyonek, some 400 feet shallower than the oil shows in previous Cosmopolitan wells. All told, according to Buccaneer, Cosmo No. 1 encountered some 488 feet of “indicated oil and gas pay,” including 18 gas zone and eight oil zones, in the Tyonek formation.
The well also found oil in the Starichkof and Hemlock formations, where previous Cosmopolitan wells discovered hydrocarbons. Cosmo No. 1 found 43 feet of “indicated” oil pay in the Starichkof and 149 feet of “indicated” oil pay in the Hemlock, according to the company. “Not all of the zones intersected will be flow tested,” Buccaneer said.
Buccaneer is the operator of the Cosmopolitan prospect and holds a 25 percent working interest in the leases there, with BlueCrest Energy Inc. holding the majority stake.
Buccaneer drilled the well using the Endeavour jack-up drilling rig.
—Eric Lidji

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