88 Energy Ltd (AIM:88E, ASX:88E, OTC:EEENF) has been declared the highest bidder for new licence blocks immediately adjacent to its Project Leonis acreage in Alaska.
Subsidiary Captivate Energy Alaska bid on the four blocks, which cover an area of 10,203 acres and will expand Project Leonis' footprint to fourteen (14) leases covering approximately 35,634 contiguous acres.
88 added the new leases were strategically targeted following the identification of additional prospectivity within Canning Formation turbidites.
Selection of potential drilling locations will occur in early 2025 following a quantitative interpretation study with drilling pencilled in for the first half of 2026.
Project Leonis is adjacent to the main oil road in Alaska, the Dalton Highway.
Ashley Gilbert, 88’s managing director, commented: "The award of these new blocks meaningfully expands Project Leonis' acreage position and reinforces our ongoing commitment to exploration on Alaska's North Slope.
"The new leases were targeted following identification of additional prospectivity within the Canning Formation, transforming Project Leonis into a multi-zone exploration opportunity of considerable scale.
“Our enhanced position benefits from access to data from historical wells that indicated oil shows and calculated pay in both the USB reservoir as well as the recently mapped Canning Formation reservoir accompanied by the existing Storms 3D data suite.
“The company is targeting a partial farm-down before any future potential drill event currently targeted for first half 2026."