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Buccaneer Energy Limited is pleased to advise that the jack-up rig “Endeavour – Spirit of Independence” has been loaded onto the Kang Sheng Kou heavy lift vessel and is in route to the Cook Inlet, Alaska. The delivery of the Endeavour jack-up rig to the Cook Inlet will complete the first phase of Buccaneer’s business plan started almost 2 years ago. That plan included the acquisition of the Endeavour and the modification and repairs in Keppel FEL shipyard, which was managed by Buccaneer’s internal management team.
The Endeavour project was funded through a joint venture company Kenai Offshore Ventures, LLC (KOV). With Buccaneer in the joint venture are Singapore listed Ezion Holdings Limited, that specializes in the development, ownership and chartering of strategic offshore assets and the provision of offshore marine logistics and support services to the offshore oil and gas industries, and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). AIDEA will be investing a total of US$23.65 million into KOV on completion of the mobilization phase.
“We are very excited to finally have the Endeavour on its way to the Cook Inlet,” said Jim Watt, President of Buccaneer Alaska. “We spent a significant amount of time and effort outfitting the Endeavour to make it ‘fit for purpose’ for work in the Inlet, and once it’s on station will stay for years to come, providing the citizens of Southcentral Alaska with the key to unlock the vast amounts of oil and gas locked in the Cook Inlet.”
AIDEA is a public corporation of the State of Alaska, created in 1967 by the Alaska Legislature in the interests of promoting the health, security, and general welfare of all the people of the state. Its mission statement is to increase job opportunities and otherwise encourage the economic growth of the state, including the development of its natural resources, through the establishment and expansion of manufacturing, industrial, energy, export, small business, and business enterprises.
Mr. Watt continued, “Buccaneer would like to thank AIDEA and all those who have worked to make this a reality. If not for their foresight, dedication and hard work, the Endeavour would not be on its way.”
It is expected to take approximately 21 – 28 days for Endeavour to reach the Cook Inlet, where the rig will be offloaded and towed via tug to the first well location in Buccaneer’s offshore program. On completion of the northern Cook Inlet 2012 drilling season, anticipated in early November, it is anticipated that the rig will then be towed to the Cosmopolitan location in the ice free southern Cook Inlet to commence drilling operations.
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