88 Energy lines up Alaskan oil target after data review

ASX-listed 88 Energy is locking onto a new exploitation target at its Icewine East oil project on Alaska’s North Slope after examining a batch of newly acquired seismic data. The company is now gearing up to drill test the “Hickory-1” well next year with planning and permission work underway.

The well’s proposed location is strategically positioned nearby to the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline and close to one of the region’s principal all-weather roads.

The company says the upcoming work at Hickory-1 will evaluate a number of highly prospective reservoir units which are interpreted to extend from oil and gas producer Pantheon Resources’ neighbouring acreage.

Pantheon’s adjacent tenement has proved fruitful in recent months with oil flowing across a suite of newly plunged holes.

88 Energy picked up the dataset in June as part of licensing agreement with SAExploration. The deal saw the company part with an initial payment of US$1 million in new shares in exchange for a portfolio of 3D seismic data acquired over a significant parcel of Alaskan oil-bearing ground.

SAE originally acquired the 223 square kilometre survey in 2015 and termed it the Franklin Bluffs 3D seismic survey dataset, or “FB3D”. 

Management believes FB3D takes in four of the ground’s highly prospective plays — a phrase used to define oil fields or prospects in similar areas regulated by the same set of geological controls.

88 Energy says its exploration plan with Hickory-1 has been constructed to intersect and test each of the four oil-bearing zones.

The company adds its interpretation of FB3D included Amplitude Variation with Offset, or “AVO” analysis – an exploratory tool used in seismic studies to distinguish a rock's fluid content, porosity, density and seismic velocity – all key indicators of hydrocarbons.

88 Energy believes the integration of AVO analysis in its review enhances the likelihood of geological success, reservoir understanding and target definition.

Importantly, the company argues its use of AVO identified multiple zones within the FB3D area that point to hydrocarbon content and reservoir quality – two characteristics that could readily flow into its oil production capabilities.

88 Energy’s Managing Director, Ashley Gilbert, said:“Importantly, the Hickory-1 well and more generally the Icewine East acreage, has been significantly de-risked by the recent drilling and flow tests carried out on the adjacent acreage by Pantheon Resources, as well as data from the Icewine-1 well logs and the richly detailed FB3D data set.”

Momentum is building for 88 Energy after the explorer recently tabled a maiden 1 billion barrel-plus resource estimate at the project. The results of the seismic review appear to be another positive step towards realising the area’s true potential.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au