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A jack-up in Cook Inlet; Spartan 151 arrives at Kitchen Lights unit
The Spartan 151 is at the Kitchen Lights unit in Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet.
The jack-up rig arrived at the offshore unit on Aug. 10, according to Escopeta Oil Co., the Houston-based independent that plans to use the rig for an offshore drilling program.
“The rig is positioned over the well,” Escopeta contractor Steve Sutherlin said.
Sutherlin is a former contributor to and currently a minority owner in Petroleum News.
The rig is currently undergoing technical operations work in preparation for a drilling program. Crews are preparing to jack up the rig platform, set the casing and install blowout preventer equipment. “Once that’s in place then they’ll put the bit in and start rocking and rolling,” Sutherlin said, adding, “We’re confident we’ll spud in August.”
Under deadlines from the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, Escopeta must drill a well in the Kitchen Lights unit to the pre-Tertiary zone by Oct. 31 in order to keep its leases.
The Kitchen Lights Unit No. 1 well will be in the Corsair prospect within the unit.
The rig officially arrived in the United States on Aug. 7, once U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspected it in Kachemak Bay and allowed it to enter U.S. waters. The tugs that brought the rig will stay in Cook Inlet through one tide cycle and return to Seattle.
Several weeks off BC coast The rig left the Gulf of Mexico in March, sailed around the tip of South America and spent several weeks off the coast of British Columbia because of legal and repair issues.
The arrival, though, is only the beginning.
Escopeta is preparing to drill in an age when offshore drilling is under a microscope.
“I am concerned, given the short timeframe to drill this season, that Escopeta conducts all operations in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. We have been monitoring all activities and been in constant contact with state and federal regulators to ensure that no corners are being cut,” Mike Munger, executive director of the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council said in a statement after the rig arrived in Alaska.
CIRCAC said that its staff participated in a two-day spill training exercise in late July involving the United States Coast Guard, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and Escopeta, and recently completed a “thorough review” of Escopeta’s Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan and submitted comments to DEC.
The Spartan 151 is the first jack-up rig in the Cook Inlet in nearly two decades.
Buccaneer Energy Ltd. is working to bring another jack-up to the Inlet next summer.
—Eric Lidji
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