The Kenai Loop prospect contains 31.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 3.9 million barrels of oil equivalent in proven reserves, according to operator Buccaneer Energy Ltd.
The figures come from an independent reserve analysis conducted by the consulting firm Ralph E. Davis Associates Inc., the Australian independent said in a statement on July 20.
The analysis on the onshore field on the Kenai Peninsula put the “proven and probable,” or 2P, reserves at 38.3 bcf and 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent and the “proven, probable and possible,” or 3P, reserves at 51.6 bcf and 6.5 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The company calculated those figures using surface mapping, and pressure and flow rate information from the 10,680-foot Kenai Loop No. 1 that Buccaneer completed in May.
The reserves totals are based on two sands, one at 9,700 feet and another at 10,000 feet.
Second well this quarter
Buccaneer plans to drill Kenai Loop No. 2 this quarter, a step-out well from the same location as Kenai Loop No. 1. Buccaneer hopes it can increase the reserve estimates for the prospect by testing the aerial extent of the two productive sands and by testing the sands below 10,000 feet that Buccaneer believes resemble those two shallower sands.
The spud date for that well is currently dependent on Buccaneer securing a rig.
Buccaneer Director Dean Gallegos said in a statement that as part of the company’s three-prong strategy, Buccaneer plans an aggressive drilling program “for the development of the Kenai Loop field and expects to drill additional wells in the next 12 months.”
“We anticipate placing the Kenai Loop field into production by the end of 2011,” he said.
Kenai Loop is north of the Cannery Loop unit and the city of Kenai, on 8,988 acres of state, Cook Inlet Region Inc. and Alaska Mental Health Land Trust leases in the area.
Buccaneer recently arranged an institutional placement to raise $14.5 million for its onshore and offshore exploration and development program in the Cook Inlet.
—Eric Lidji
