Buccaneer plans to buy Marathon rig

[Arctic Dave]

Interesting article, not because of them buying the rig but because the State of Alaska just gave them 24 million in loans and now they aren't paying their bills.

After complaints about unpaid bills from contractors working at the company's Kenai Loop gas field, Buccaneer Energy announced this week that it had secured $20 million in project financing and agreed to purchase Marathon's Glacier No. 1 drilling rig for $7.5 million.

Twenty million dollars will enable Buccaneer to pay vendors, purchase the rig, and pay other expenses, Buccaneer said. The prospective lender is conducting due diligence before finalizing the deal, the company said, adding that it expects the deal to close in the next month.

"Putting together a funding facility of this type is a significant milestone for Buccaneer Energy," said Dean Gallegos, executive director of the company. "Buccaneer is firmly committed to its Alaska strategy and we are looking forward to progress on our Kenai Loop project, including our next well at Kenai Loop and our first offshore well later this year."

Buccaneer completed its first well at Kenai Loop, near Kenai airport, in May 2011 and, having made a natural gas find, proceeded to develop a production facility connected to the Kenai gas pipeline. The company also drilled a second, unsuccessful well.

http://m.adn.com/adn/db_90853/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=RCnwlsST

There will be a second jack-up rig exploring for oil and gas in Cook Inlet by next April, this one owned about one-third by the state of Alaska.

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state corporation, finalized an agreement Nov. 14 to invest $27 million in the purchase of the Adriatic XI jack-up rig along with two partners, Australia-based Buccaneer Energy and Ezion Holdings Ltd. of Singapore, the chairman of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority said in a press release.

AIDEA’s stake in the rig is temporary, however. After five years the authority’s investment will be repaid under terms of the deal.

The jack-up rig was purchased from TransOcean Offshore Resources Ltd. The rig, to be used in drilling for oil and gas in Cook Inlet and possibly other Alaska offshore areas, will be renamed Endeavor – Spirit of Independence, according to Hugh Short, the chairman of AIDEA’s board.

AIDEA has transmitted the first part of its $24 million investment, Short said.



Read more: http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/AJOC-November-20-2011/Second-jack-up-rig-to-explore-in-Cook-Inlet-by-next-April/#ixzz1sjqupfbv

[ges5626sek]

1. nvm.