88 Energy Ltd (AIM:88E, ASX:88E, OTC:EEENF) has now begun drilling the hotly anticipated Hickory-1 exploration well on Alaska’s North Slope.
The well, located on a site in a licence adjacent to Pantheon Resources discoveries, is targeting six potential reservoir zones for a combined prospective target of some 647mln barrels of oil.
The company, in a statement, said it is drilling the initial surface hole down to 3,500 feet to install a blow-out preventer, before sinking the hole further, down to a total depth of up to 12,500 feet (the maximum allowed under its permit) – to intersect the SMD-C, SMD-B, SMD-A, SFS, BFF, and KUP targets.
Drilling the initial phase is expected to take two weeks, followed by a further two weeks of drilling into targets and down to target depth. The company expects to conduct logging-whilst-drilling data capture followed by wireline logging.
Subject to results, the company intends to follow up the drilling with a well testing programme, though flow testing would have to wait until the 2023/24 winter season.
“This provides ample time post-drilling to optimise the flow test program, design, permitting and implementation,” 88 Energy said.