88 Energy Ltd (AIM:88E, ASX:88E, OTC:EEENF) said it has signed up a rig contractor for the planned Hickory-1 exploration well, in Alaska, which is slated to spud by late February or early March.
The company, in a statement, said that permitting and planning for the well remains ‘on track’.
Hickory is part of an area in the eastern section of what’s been known as Project Icewine, and the company has now put a new label it, calling it Project Phoenix.
Notably, Project Phoenix is located in the vicinity of the successful Pantheon Resources and is targeting the same reservoir plays.
At Hickory it plans to drill down some 12,500 feet to test a total of six reservoir targets (across the SMD, SFS, BFF and KUP reservoirs) representing some 647mln barrels of estimated prospective resources.
According to 88 Energy, these targets have been de-risked by its neighbour, Pantheon Resources.
The company said: “The Hickory-1 well has been significantly de-risked by recent drilling and flow tests carried out on adjacent acreage by Pantheon Resources, the interpretation of the Icewine-1 well logs, the modern Franklin Bluffs 3D seismic data and AVO analysis.
“An optimal drilling location has been selected adjacent to the Dalton Highway using the above data. This location intersects and will test the substantial potential oil volumes noted across all mapped play fairways, and in particular the SMD, SFS and BFF reservoirs.”