88 Energy Ltd (AIM:88E, ASX:88E, OTC:EEENF) told investors it has completed the surface hole of the Hickory exploration well and is now preparing to drill the next section of the well down to its three primary reservoir targets.
The company, in a statement, said it has completed the installation of surface casing and a blow-out preventer.
Now the well will be drilled towards an expected target depth of 12,500 feet.
The well’s primary and secondary targets are expected to be reached within the next two weeks, it added.
It has three primary targets (the SMD reservoirs) and two secondary targets (SFS and BFF) along with a deeper sixth zone (in the KUP reservoir) which is described as a tertiary target.
The company said it plans to conduct drilling and mud logging to gather initial indications of the prospectivity in these targets, ahead of a more sophisticated wireline logging and core analysis after drilling reaches target depth.
Wireline analysis is due to take five to seven days after the drilling, it added.
Subject to results, the company plans to conduct a flow test programme subsequently, in the "2023/24 winter season".
The well is located on a site in a licence adjacent to the Pantheon Resources discoveries and it is targeting a combined prospective target of some 647mln barrels of oil across the six reservoir targets.
Success in the well would represent a significant high-impact milestone for the company, which has run multiple exploration campaigns in recent years.
Pantheon has in the next door licences confirmed a number of material discoveries including Theta West, which was recently described as “the fourth-biggest discovery well globally in 2022" in a report by industry consultant Wood MacKenzie.
Testing programmes are continuing for the Pantheon discoveries to determine their scope and commercial merits.