88 Energy Ltd (AIM:88E, ASX:88E, OTC:EEENF) told investors that it has now selected the location of Hickory-1, the company’s next well in the Icewine East area of its Alaskan North Slope acreage.
The well is to be positioned adjacent to the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline route and the Dalton Highway.
The explorer, in a statement, said that it used analysis and interpretation of 3D seismic survey data in the selection process to define 'sweet spots' for each of the mapped prospects that are believed to be relevant to AIM-peer Pantheon Resources which operates nearby projects and has made a string of discoveries.
Hickory-1 aims to test the Shelf Margin Delta (SMD), Slope Fan System (SFS), Basin Floor Fan (BFF) and Kuparuk (KUP) play fairways, 88 Energy said.
It is designed as a vertical well, with a 12,500 ft target depth, and is expected to be drilled during the first half of 2023.
"We continue to advance our Icewine East acreage towards the planned drilling of an exploration well next year,” said managing director Ashley Gilbert.
“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.
“These existing data sets, and the multi-disciplinary evaluation undertaken on them, substantially increases our confidence in unlocking the potential of the Icewine East acreage."