88 Energy has provided an update on its recently consolidated South Prudhoe acreage position on Alaska's North Slope (100% working interest, 16.7% royalty). The South Prudhoe lease position covers approx. 52,269 acres within one of the most prolific hydrocarbon fairways on the North Slope, immediately south of the Prudhoe Bay Unit and Kuparuk River Unit.
The South Prudhoe Project presents a high-impact, multi-reservoir drilling opportunity in one of Alaska's most prolific oil provinces. Augusta-1 targets a 133.7 (MMbbls)2,3 (2U, Gross unrisked) stacked resource adjacent to major producing fields, supported by extensive regional data and infrastructure.
Highlights
- Augusta-1 remains firmly on track for the planned Q1 2027 spud[1], with significant advancements including finalised drilling location, progressed permitting, road and facility access, logistics, planning and securing long-lead items including contracting of Nordic-3 drilling rig and Nabors 58-man camp.
- Augusta Prospect defined across multiple stacked reservoirs, including Ivishak, Kuparuk and Brookian targets, offering multiple potential pay zones within a single exploration well.
- Augusta-1 well designed to test up to 133.7 MMbbls[2],[3] of 2U gross unrisked Prospective Resources (111.4 MMbbls net to 88E), across the three reservoir intervals.
- Ivishak and Kuparuk are proven and producing reservoirs, supported by extensive regional production history, and within Augusta have direct analogues to the Prudhoe Bay Unit and Kuparuk River Unit fields.
- Farm-out discussion progressing, with multiple parties actively engaged in the data room.
Priority Augusta-1 Drilling Target
A High-Impact, Multi-Reservoir Opportunity
The Augusta Prospect represents 88 Energy's highest-priority drilling target within the South Prudhoe Project and a material, multi-zone exploration opportunity on Alaska's North Slope. The prospect is defined across stacked Ivishak, Kuparuk and Upper Schrader Bluff (Brookian) reservoir intervals, offering the potential for multiple independent pay zones within a single well.
Augusta-1 is designed to test up to 133.7 MMbbls of 2U gross unrisked Prospective Resources (111.4 MMbbls net to 88E)[4],[5], providing exposure to a substantial, development-scale oil resource across multiple reservoirs.
Primary Target Reservoir Intervals:
- Ivishak: 57.5 MMbbls (gross unrisked, 2U), 47.9 MMbbls net to 88E4,5; and
- Kuparuk: 23.5 MMbbls (gross unrisked, 2U), 19.6 MMbbls net to 88E4,5.
Secondary Reservoir Objective:
- USB (M and N sands): 52.7 MMbbls (gross unrisked, 2U), 43.9 MMbbls net to 88E4,5
The Ivishak and Kuparuk reservoirs are proven, high-quality producing intervals across the North Slope, with extensive regional production history, nearby well control and direct analogues to the Prudhoe Bay Unit and Kuparuk River Unit. These reservoirs form the core technical focus of the Augusta-1 well, while the Brookian interval provides meaningful additional upside within the North-West Hub.
Transformational Significance
A successful Augusta-1 well would represent the first direct assessment of the Company's priority South Prudhoe reservoir fairways and has the potential to materially de-risk a large, stacked oil system adjacent to established production and infrastructure. Success could transform the scale and value of the South Prudhoe Project, underpin future appraisal activity and materially enhance 88 Energy's strategic and commercial positioning on the North Slope.
Advancement and Operational Readiness
Operational readiness activities have advanced over several key workstreams required to drill the Augusta-1 exploration well during the Q1 2027 Alaskan winter drilling season.
The Company has secured Nordic-Calista Rig-3 and is in the process of securing access agreements with the Operators of the Kuparuk River Unit (KRU) and Prudhoe Bay Unit (PBU) to utilise the existing road and facility infrastructure. Gaining road and facility access provides a material execution advantage by reducing new ice-road requirements, lowering logistics complexity and improving schedule certainty and duration.
Ice-road planning is advanced, with the drill site designed to connect to existing Kuparuk infrastructure via a short seasonal tie-in. This access strategy is expected to reduce mobilisation risk, environmental impact, construction time and overall drilling campaign costs.
88 Energy has also contracted a dedicated Arctic-rated drilling camp for the Augusta-1 program, further strengthening execution readiness for the planned winter campaign. With the rig secured, access arrangements advancing and key logistics progressing, 88 Energy is well positioned and firmly on track to deliver the planned Q1 2027 spud of the Augusta-1 well.
Funding and Participation Strategy Update
Drilling of the Augusta-1 well is planned for the Q1 2027 Alaskan winter drilling season, subject to securing an appropriate funding structure.
88 Energy continues to evaluate a range of funding and participation options for the Augusta-1 exploration well and the broader South Prudhoe Project, following the commencement of a formal farmout process in February 2026.
Since securing highly prospective acreage within the South Prudhoe Project in November 2025, the Company has rapidly progressed the project, systematically de-risking and defining multiple low-risk prospects, particularly within the North-West Hub. This has included the purchase and interpretation of new 3D seismic data, integration of legacy and regional datasets, improved definition of prospectivity, and the ranking and prioritisation of well-defined drill targets. This work has led to the selection of Augusta-1 as a priority drilling target, designed to test a substantial, development-scale oil resource across multiple reservoirs.
A farm-out remains the Company's preferred mechanism to share drilling risk and capital requirements while retaining meaningful exploration upside. The Company continues to advance farm-out discussions with multiple parties.
With a 100% working interest in the South Prudhoe Project and a strong cash balance of approximately A$10 million as at the end of April 2026, 88 Energy retains flexibility over transaction structure and timing and will pursue the optimal pathway to balance value realisation and execution risk, ensuring alignment with shareholders' interests.
Source: 88 Energy
