A mobile drilling rig partly owned by the state of Alaska is headed to Cook Inlet from Singapore, a journey of almost 7,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.
Buccaneer Energy Ltd. and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority on Tuesday separately announced the jack-up rig named Endeavour -- Spirit of Independence had left Singapore aboard a heavy lift vessel. The trip is expected to take three to four weeks. In late August, the rig will be towed by tug to its first well location in Cook Inlet. There, its giant legs will lower to the sea floor to anchor it for drilling.
AIEDA said its investment in the Endeavour is expected to total nearly $24 million. It's a partner in the rig with Buccaneer and Ezion Holdings Ltd., a Singapore-based company that owns and operates a fleet of vessels.
Buccaneer, a Houston-based operator with stock traded on the Australian exchange, holds 75,000 leased acres in and around Cook Inlet. It is one of two independent oil and gas companies trying to use a jack-up rig to drill in Cook Inlet under a state program that offers lucrative incentives. But its rig is the only one with direct state investment.
