Buccaneer Buying $68.5 Million Transocean Rig For Alaskan Exploration
02 September 2011 - 3:47AM
Dow Jones News
Buccaneer Energy Ltd. (BCC.AU) said Thursday it has agreed to
pay Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $68.5 million for a shallow-water rig the
oil and natural gas producer plans to take to Alaska's Cook
Inlet.
Buccaneer hopes to have the GSF Adriatic XI in southern Alaska
and ready to drill by next spring. The sale is scheduled to close
next month, after which the rig will be hauled to an Asian shipyard
to be outfitted for Alaska's harsh conditions, Buccaneer said.
The rig is capable of drilling in up to 300 feet of water. The
28-year-old jackup has sat idled in Malaysia for more than a year,
according to Transocean's most recent fleet status report. A
Transocean spokesman confirmed the sale but declined to comment
further.
Buccaneer is one of several independent oil and gas explorers
taking a renewed interest in Cook Inlet.
With drilling dating back to 1958, the inlet on Alaska's
southern coast is the state's original oil patch. In recent
decades, however, Cook Inlet was largely ignored as producers
turned instead to the vast reserves on Alaska's North Slope.
Producers have been prompted to return by a new U.S. Geologic
Survey study suggesting that Cook Inlet holds nine times more
natural gas than previously believed along with the state's high
gas prices and a slew of tax incentives.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority has, for
example, agreed to lend Buccaneer and its partner Ezion Holdings
Ltd. (5ME.SG) $30 million to help buy the rig, bring it to Alaska
and drill at least four offshore wells.
The state agency will recoup its money with proceeds from the
resulting wells, a spokesman said.
Shares of Transocean recently traded 21 cents, or 0.37% higher
at $56.23.
-By Ryan Dezember, Dow Jones Newswires, 713-547-9208,
ryan.dezember@dowjones.com
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