Buccaneer begins sales into CINGSA

Buccaneer Energy Ltd. recently began selling natural gas from a Kenai Peninsula well into a new Cook Inlet storage facility, the Australian independent announced April 26.

Enstar Natural Gas Co. is injecting 100 percent of the volumes from the Kenai Loop No. 1 well into its nearby Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska, according to Buccaneer.

The well is currently producing 5.1 million cubic feet per day, but Buccaneer said it hopes to increase production “in the short term.” Under its contract, Buccaneer must provide at least 5 million cubic feet per day to the facility, but can sell as much as 15 million per day.

Additionally, Buccaneer said it extended its agreement to sell Kenai Loop volumes to ConocoPhillips for use at the liquefied natural gas export terminal in Nikiski. That contract would only go into effect in the storage facility shut down for some reason.

“Based on the economics of the Kenai Loop project and the continued development of CINGSA, we are looking forward to drilling more wells on the project as soon as we complete the acquisition of the Glacier No. 1 drilling rig from Marathon,” Buccaneer Director Dean Gallegos said in a statement. “Having the ability to sell increased volumes to Enstar, and any volumes during maintenance periods with ConocoPhillips, allows us the confidence to produce at the maximum efficient rate from the project.”

—Eric Lidji