ASX listed 88 Energy is enjoying a high level of interest from potential farm-in partners at its project known as “Project Icewine” in Alaska’s famed North Slope oil province and it has now extended the farm-out deadline to the first quarter of 2019.
A recent decision to extend the company’s self imposed deadline for the farm-out of its conventional oil acreage was made to maximise the number of bids while remaining within the logistical schedule required for the drilling of multiple wells in the 2020 operating season.
Project Icewine’s conventional acreage has estimated gross mean prospective resources of 2.89 billion barrels of oil, which, if proven would represent a significant bounty for the Perth, small capped, ASX listed company.
88 Energy has an 80% interest in Project Icewine.
Separately, the company will carry out lab tests to better understand the producibility of its unconventional HRZ shale following an initial review by American oilfield services company Baker Hughes.
Baker Hughes is carrying out a comprehensive review that includes pre-drilling work completed by Burgundy Xploration and data obtained from the Icewine-1 and Icewine-2 unconventional shale wells.
88 Energy is also working with the US Geological Survey to better define quantitative oil and gas biomarkers, kerogen, age dating and variability in source rock geochemistry.
Management said the work underway is expected to be completed in the first half of 2019 before it starts farm-out proceedings for its unconventional acreage.
The company also expects to receive results from the 3D seismic it shot over the Cascade prospect in its Yukon leases, in February 2019.
Cascade contains the Yukon Gold discovery that was made in 1993. While the well penetrated the prospect in a down-dip location in reasonable quality, hydrocarbon saturated sandstone, the up-dip portion has now been identified as a channelised feature and is likely to host thicker sands of higher quality.
88 Energy Managing Director David Wall said: “By shifting the self-imposed year-end deadline for the Icewine conventional farm-out, we are maximising the chances of achieving the best deal possible for our shareholders and we remain highly encouraged by the level of activity and the quality of the parties active in the dataroom.”
“The first quarter of 2019 is shaping up to be an important period for the company with results expected from ongoing analysis related to the HRZ shale, the drilling of the Winx-1 exploration well, further definition of the potential on the Yukon Leases and, of course, the Project Icewine conventional farm-out.”
By Matt Birney
