In this photo provided by Escopeta oil, a jack-up rig is maneuvering toward leases in Cook Inlet. (Escopeta/Steve Sutherlin) |
The newest addition to the Cook Inlet oil and gas scene -- a huge, mobile jack-up exploration rig -- was maneuvering into place Wednesday afternoon.
Escopeta said its jack-up rig should be positioned over oil and gas leases off the Kenai Peninsula by 5:00 p.m. Wednesday.
It’s been a long, delayed journey for the Houston-based energy company, which is a few months behind its original schedule.
“The birds are flying south now, and we actually planned to do the project when the birds were flying north,” said Escopeta strategic officer Steve Sutherlin.
Some blame for the delay lies with rough seas, which damaged part of the rig as it journeyed from the Gulf of Mexico around the tip of South America. Escopeta also had to wait longer than expected in Vancouver for government clearance to proceed on to Alaska.
With the rig finally in place, Sutherlin says drilling is set to start on the first of five exploration wells as soon as a week or two from now.
"We anticipate that directly and indirectly our program will bring about 400 jobs initially," Sutherlin said. "If we find commercial quantities of oil and gas then we’re talking thousands of jobs and many high-paying jobs."
A jack-up rig is essentially a mobile barge-like platform with a derrick on top and tall legs at its corners, which descend to the inlet's floor and lift the barge portion above the water.
Contact Ted Land at tland@ktuu.com
