88 Energy locks in rig for giant 2027 Alaskan oil shot

88 Energy Limited has moved its South Prudhoe story from resource growth to drilling readiness, telling the market its priority Augusta-1 exploration well on Alaska’s famed North Slope remains firmly on track for a planned Q1 2027 spud.

The company says the well is designed to test 133.7 million barrels of gross unrisked prospective resources, or 111.4 million barrels net to 88 Energy after royalties, across the stacked Ivishak, Kuparuk and Upper Schrader Bluff horizons in one of Alaska’s most prolific oil provinces.

Today’s update follows a recent update outlining a 35 per cent jump in total gross unrisked 2U prospective resources at South Prudhoe to 768.9 million barrels. Fresh technical work has sharpened the project’s stacked-reservoir potential and confirmed Augusta as its highest-priority drilling target.

Operationally, the pieces are falling into place. 88 Energy has secured Rig-3 from Nordic-Calista, contracted a 58-man Nabors Arctic-rated camp and has progressed permitting and logistics planning.

The company is also working on access agreements to use existing Kuparuk River Unit and Prudhoe Bay Unit roads and facilities. The shared access strategy and Arctic-rated camp should help reduce new ice-road requirements, trim logistics complexity and lower overall drilling costs.

The deeper Ivishak and Kuparuk intervals are proven producers on the North Slope and have direct analogues in the giant Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk River fields next door. The shallower Upper Schrader Bluff target adds another potential pay zone and gives Augusta-1 a genuine stacked-shot profile from a single well.

Funding remains a key watch point. 88 Energy says farm-out discussions are progressing with multiple parties in the data room and a deal remains its preferred pathway to share drilling risk and capital demands while retaining meaningful upside exposure.

The company also says its 100 per cent working interest in the South Prudhoe project and a $10M cash balance at the end of April give it flexibility on timing and transaction structures as talks continue.

For now, Augusta-1 is shaping as 88 Energy’s clearest near-term chance to convert South Prudhoe’s growing resource scale into a genuine drilling catalyst ahead of Q1 next year.

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