• Rig contract executed for Hickory-1 exploration well flow test at Project Phoenix
• Multiple hydrocarbon-bearing pay zones to be flow tested, with final program design underway
• Hickory-1 well targeting 647 million barrels of oil
• Post-well analysis of cores, mud gas isotubes and wireline data ongoing, with encouraging initial results demonstrating good correlation to migration and thermal maturity models
• Planning and permitting for the flow test on schedule with operations set to commence as early as possible in the upcoming Alaskan winter operational season

88 Energy has executed a rig contract with All American Oilfield (AAO) for the use of Rig-111 to flow test the Hickory-1 well on the Alaskan North Slope.

Managing Director and CEO, Ashley Gilbert, commented: 
“The execution of a rig contract is another important step as we advance towards the Hickory-1 well flow testing program planned for the 2023/2024 Alaskan winter operational season. 

“We continue to be very encouraged by progress by our northern neighbour, Pantheon Resources, who recently announced a material, independently estimated, 2C contingent resource for the Lower Basin Floor Fan reservoir. 

“The Basin Floor Fan reservoir was the deepest of the multiple hydrocarbon-bearing pay zones intersected as part of the Hickory-1 exploration well. This reservoir, along with our primary, high-priority SMD, Upper SFS and SFS targets, is planned to be flow tested as part of the upcoming program. 

“We look forward to updating shareholders as we progress to the completion of permitting and planning activities before mobilising to the well site as soon as Alaskan seasonal conditions permit.”

Hickory-1 Flow Test Program 

The Hickory-1 exploration well is currently cased and suspended ahead of the planned flow test and well stimulation program scheduled for the 2023/2024 Alaskan winter operational season. Design of the flow test and stimulation program, which is targeting multiple zones, is being undertaken in consultation with industry experts, utilising available regional information in combination with a detailed evaluation of the drilling and wireline logging data from Hickory-1. Permitting and planning is on track and will include rigorous technical and economic optimisation with our Alaskan project manager, Fairweather, LLC. Contract negotiations and ordering of long lead items are also proceeding as planned.

About Project Phoenix 

Project Phoenix (88E 75.2% WI) is located on the central North Slope of Alaska and encompasses approximately 82,846 gross acres. It is situated on-trend to recent discoveries by Pantheon Resources Plc (LSE: PANR) in multiple, newly successful play types across top, slope and bottom-set sands of the Mid Schrader Bluff, Canning and Seabee formations. Hickory-1 results and independent mapping have demonstrated that these plays extend into the Phoenix acreage. 

Project Phoenix holds an estimated unrisked conventional total of 647MMbbl of prospective oil resources (pre-drilling, mean unrisked, net to 88E), independently assessed by Lee Keeling and Associates (LKA) in Q3 2022 (see 88E ASX release dated 23 August 2022). The acreage was significantly de-risked by the recent Pantheon drilling and flow tests on their adjacent acreage to the North, coupled with data from Icewine-1 well logs (encountered 380 ft of net oil pay within SMD sands) and a modern 3D seismic data set (FB3D).

 Project Phoenix is strategically located on the Dalton Highway with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline system running through the acreage providing an immediate export route and expediting future development.

KeyFacts Energy: 88 Energy US Alaska country profile