Buccaneer Energy Ltd. advised that the jackup rig Endeavour has been loaded onto the Kang Sheng Kou heavy lift vessel and is now in route to the Cook Inlet, Alaska.

The delivery of the Endeavour jackup rig to the Cook Inlet will complete the first phase of Buccaneer’s business plan started almost two years ago.

That plan included the acquisition of the Endeavour and the modification and repairs in the Keppel FEL shipyard, which was managed by Buccaneer’s internal management team.

The Endeavour project was funded through a joint venture company Kenai Offshore Ventures LLC (KOV). With Buccaneer in the joint venture are Ezion Holdings Ltd., and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA). AIDEA will be investing a total of $23.65 million into KOV on completion of the mobilization phase.

Jim Watt, president of Buccaneer Alaska, commented, “We spent a significant amount of time and effort outfitting the Endeavour to make it ‘fit for purpose’ for work in the Inlet, and once it’s on station will stay for years to come, providing the citizens of south central Alaska with the key to unlock the vast amounts of oil and gas locked in the Cook Inlet.”

It is expected to take approximately 21 to 28 days for Endeavour to reach the Cook Inlet, where the rig will be offloaded and towed via tug to the first well location in Buccaneer’s offshore program.

On completion of the northern Cook Inlet 2012 drilling season, anticipated in early November, it is anticipated that the rig will then be towed to the Cosmopolitan location in the ice-free southern Cook Inlet to commence drilling operations.