Shares in 88 Energy (LON:88E, ASX:88E) rose 19% in early trade in London overnight after the Alaska-focused oil exploration firm released some encouraging data from its first exploration hole.
The company said Icewine-1 well achieved all of its “primary unconventional objectives”.
Drilled to 11,600 feet its target was the HRZ shale. Early analysis reveals 88’s portion of the HRZ to be in the “thermal maturity sweet spot”.
The company said oil shows were recorded in cuttings brought to the surface during drilling. There was also a “pronounced increase” in heavy gas fractions.
Two cores were cut and have been sent for analysis. The first will provide a broader insight into what could be contained within the HRZ.
The second, taken from the underlying Pebble Shale, will “provide valuable information on the bottom sealing potential for the HRZ”.
Icewine-1 was also used to assess two conventional reservoir targets - Kuparuk sands and the Brookian sequence.
Project Icewine covers 272,422 acres of Alaska’s North Slope, host to the giant Prudhoe Bay discovery.
It is worth pointing out that while remote, the area is right on the main highway and only 35 miles from a pump station, so it is in the sweet spot logistically, too.
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