Cosmopolitan oil and gas field is located in the southern part of the Cook Inlet Basin, Alaska, US, in close proximity to the shoreline at Anchor Point on the Kenai Peninsula. Water depth at the field is approximately 80ft.
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The oil and gas field is solely owned and operated by Bluecrest Energy, which acquired Buccaneer’s 25% share in the project in 2014. The first oil from the project is expected in 2016.
Discovery and drilling activities at the Cosmopolitan field
Pennzoil discovered the Cosmopolitan oil and gas field in 1967 by drilling the first exploration well, which flowed at a rate of 75 barrels of oil per day (bpd). It was followed by the drilling of the Hansen 1 and Hansen 1A wells by ConocoPhillips in 2001 and 2003 respectively.
Pioneer Natural Resources conducted a 3D seismic survey of the entire field area in 2005 and drilled the Hansen 1AL1 well in 2007, which produced 35,000 barrels of oil.
The wells drilled by ConocoPhillips and Pioneer were directionally drilled from an onshore location, approximately three miles from the field. Pioneer Natural Resources sold its 100% share in the project to BlueCrest (75%) and Buccaneer (25%) in August 2012.
BlueCrest and Buccaneer drilled the Cosmopolitan 1 vertical well to a total depth of 7,599ft in 2013 using the Endeavour – Spirit of Independence jack-up rig (formerly GSF Adriatic X1 Offshore jack-up rig). The well led to the discovery of new productive gas and oil zones. BlueCrest and Buccaneer further acquired the neighbouring leases held by Apache that year.
Cosmopolitan oil and gas field reserves
Based on an estimate made by Ralph E Davis in August 2012, the Alaskan offshore oil and gas field is estimated to hold proved and probable (2P) reserves of approximately 55.2 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe).
Cosmopolitan field development
The initial development plan being implemented at the Cosmopolitan field involves vertical drilling of offshore gas wells and water injection wells using the Endeavour rig to target the shallow gas formations, which are not reachable from onshore locations and drilling of directional wells from onshore to target the deeper oil accumulations.
Two gas-only production platforms will be installed at the offshore site, which will be tied back to the existing onshore site by means of subsea pipelines. Each of the two platforms will have a designed dry gas production capacity of 30 million standard cubic feet a day (MMscfd), feature a 12-man temporary quarter, a helideck, a crane and a flare boom.
Gas produced from the field will be conveyed to the gas transportation line owned by Enstar, whereas oil will be conveyed to the Tesoro Kenai refinery using trucks.
Offshore drilling activities are expected to continue until April 2016. In May 2015, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) Board consented to provide a loan of up to $30m to BlueCrest Energy to acquire an onshore drilling rig for the project.
Details of the drilling rigs
Prior to the start of operations at the field, the Endeavour rig was upgraded at Keppel FELS’ Singapore shipyard and additional repairs were completed at Homer Deep Water Dock.
The rig is capable of operating in water depths of up to 300ft and drill to a depth up to 25,000ft. It has accommodation facilities for 100 people and can be used in temperatures as low as -10°F.
The proposed onshore drilling rig for the field is a 3,000HP unit, which will be capable of drilling to depths of more than 30,000ft.
Contractors involved with the Cook Inlet Basin offshore field
The drilling contractor for the project is Spartan Offshore Drilling. A full rig condition survey for the Endeavour rig was performed by Global Offshore Engineering (GOE) in December 2014.
The Endeavour – Spirit of Independence jack-up rig is owned by Kenai Offshore Ventures (KOV), which is comprised Terra Investments and Ezion Holdings, and is chartered by Kenai Drilling, a subsidiary of BlueCrest Energy.
