Buccaneer prepping next Kenai Loop well

Buccaneer Energy Ltd. expects to spud its next Kenai Loop well sometime in July.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission gave the local subsidiary of the Australian independent a drilling permit for the Kenai Loop No. 4 well on June 22 and the Glacier No. 1 drilling rig is currently at the onshore pad near the city of Kenai.

The company said it is currently incorporation data from a recent 3-D seismic acquisition of the region into its geologic model from two previous Kenai Loop wells drilled in 2011.

“This part of the process has taken longer than expected due to using a new improved version of a specialized software package,” the company said in a statement on July 1.

Buccaneer brought Kenai Loop online in January after drilling two wells at the field in 2011. The Kenai Loop No. 1 well tested at 10 million cubic feet per day and is currently in production while the Kenai Loop No. 3 well was a dry hole. Buccaneer must drill another well to meet its contractual commitments, but would like to drill additional wells

The seismic found a geologic anomaly that may explain the Kenai Loop No. 3 results, Buccaneer said. “The fault previously thought to have separated the Kenai Loop No. 1 and Kenai Loop No. 3 well but which could not be identified on the 1970’s 2-D seismic used to locate that well, is now clearly visible on the new 3-D seismic and has been confirmed as the basis for the unsuccessful Kenai Loop No. 3 well,” the company said.

—Eric Lidji