The upcoming well for 88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E, ASX:88E) is two years in the making, and managing director Dave Wall says it is ‘crunch time’ for the Icewine project.
88 Energy’s first Icewine well, drilled in late 2015, confirmed a potentially significant new shale play up in Alaska’s North Slope region and the next well, slated for Q2 2017, is designed to test the discovery’s commercial viability.
Wall told Proactive Investors that the spud date for Icewine 2 is anticipated in April, and the well is expected to take 45 days to drill.
“Really this is the key event in terms of unlocking the value of this play,” Wall said in an interview.
Once drilled, the Icewine 2 well will be stimulated and subsequently a production flow test be undertaken, with results anticipated by mid-2017.
The HRZ shale play that’s being tested in Icewine 2 is the priority for 88 Energy, Wall explains, but, in the interview, he also discusses the conventional potential across its large acreage position.
Wall describes the potential for billion barrels of non-shale potential as the ‘cherry on the cake’ for 88 Energy.
Success in the shale project, meanwhile, could unlock resources that are estimated in excess of 3bn barrels of oil.
“We are on the verge of potentially unlocking several billion barrels of oil potential through the drilling of this one well, so it is that pivotal moment that every exploration company gets to at some point in time.
“The upside here is enormous for us.”