Highlights
- Permit to Drill approved for the Hickory-1 exploration well
- Ice-pad construction to commence imminently ahead of drilling Hickory-1 well
- Mobilisation of Nordic Calista Rig-2 expected to commence mid-February
- Spud of Hickory-1 well on track for early March 2023
- Hickory-1 drilling costs estimated to be US$13.5m gross (88E 75% working interest)
88 Energy has confirmed that the Permit to Drill (PTD) has been approved by the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) for the Hickory-1 well, located in Project Phoenix on the North Slope of Alaska.
In addition, construction of the Hickory-1 ice-pad will commence imminently with mobilisation of the Nordic Calista Rig-2 scheduled to also begin around mid-February from the Pantheon Resources, Alkaid-2 well location. The Hickory-1 drilling location is directly adjacent to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) and the Dalton Highway.
Planning and Permitting for the Hickory-1 well is now largely complete with the approval of the AOGCC PTD, ahead of targeted spud in early March 2023. Hickory-1 Project Manager, Fairweather, LLC, has completed the tendering and contracting program for the drilling operations with the well cost estimated to be approximately US$13.5 million gross (88E net ~US$10 million). The modest drilling cost is a direct result of the proximity of Project Phoenix and the Hickory-1 well to key infrastructure including the Dalton Highway.
Flow testing of the Hickory-1 well is planned to be undertaken in the 2023/24 winter season, subject to well results, providing sufficient time post-drilling to optimise the flow test design, permitting and implementation.
The Hickory-1 well is designed to appraise up to six conventional reservoir targets within the SMD, SFS, BFF and KUP reservoirs and 647 million barrels of oil(1,2). Hickory-1 is permitted to a total depth of 12,500 feet. An optimal drilling location has been selected adjacent to the Dalton Highway utilising an extensive suite of data. This included interpretation of the Icewine-1 well logs, mapping and AVO analysis of the modern Franklin Bluffs 3D seismic data (FB3D) and publicly available information from the recent drilling and flow tests carried out on adjacent acreage by Pantheon Resources .
(1) Cautionary Statement: The estimated quantities of petroleum that may be potentially recovered by the application of a future development project relate to undiscovered accumulations. These estimates have both an associated risk of discovery and a risk of development. Further exploration, appraisal and evaluation are required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially movable hydrocarbons.
(2) Mean unrisked resource - Net Entitlement to 88 Energy. Refer announcement released to ASX on 23 August 2022
Source: 88 Energy
