Buccaneer uses ACES to secure loan

Buccaneer Alaska LLC is using State of Alaska tax credits to back a $50 million credit facility from a Houston-based investment firm, the independent announced on Dec. 5.

The local subsidiary of Australian independent Buccaneer Energy Ltd. executed the senior asset backed revolving credit facility with Centaurus Capital LP, and plans to use the proceeds to fund about half of its exploration and development activities in Alaska.

The credit facility is set to expire in November 2016.

Buccaneer is securing the facility using credits from Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share, or ACES. The company said it has earned $13.5 million in ACES credits to date from its work at the Kenai Loop project and expects to receive the funds no later than July 2012.

“This credit facility is an important step for the company,” Buccaneer Director Dean Gallegos said in a statement. “It funds a large piece of our development program going forward, significantly reducing the use of equity. It also marks the first time the Company has accessed the North American senior debt market. There is a great deal of interest in the company’s Alaskan activities and it is an area we will continue to develop.”

Buccaneer operates five Cook Inlet prospects: the offshore Southern Cross and Northwest Cook Inlet units, the Kenai Loop project north of Kenai, the West Eagle prospect in the southern Kenai Peninsula and the West Nicolai prospect on the west side of Cook Inlet.

—Eric Lidji