Alaska News

Buccaneer Energy begins production at Kenai gas well

According to a Monday announcment, Australia-based Buccaneer Energy has announced the start of natural gas production from its Kenai Loop #1 well. Production started on Saturday, January 14.

The company expects to produce up to 5 million cubic feet of gas per day while monitoring the reservoir over the next two to three months.

The produced gas will be sold in Enstar's daily winter auction, in which producers make supply bids after being notified 24 hours in advance of the gas utility's upcoming needs.

Buccaneer signed a sales deal with Enstar parent company Semco Energy in August that would enable Enstar to purchase Kenai Loop gas and inject it into the CINGSA storage facility.

Buccaneer will also be able to sell gas not purchased in the daily auction to ConocoPhillips for use in the Kenai LNG facility.

Buccaneer Director Dean Gallegos expressed pride in the announcement of his company's first Cook Inlet basin production:

"The commencement of gas production and sales from the Kenai Loop project is a significant milestone for Buccaneer and marks the first production from our substantial Alaska holdings. We are extremely proud of the speed and efficiency our team has displayed in going from discovery to permitting and production at Kenai Loop in less than 9 months -- this includes the construction of a pipeline and the facilities necessary to drill, produce and transport a substantial amount of natural gas."

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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