18 October 2016
This announcement contains inside information
Significant
Conventional Potential Identified at Project Icewine
88 Energy Limited (“88 Energy”, “the Company”, “Operator”) (ASX,
AIM: 88E) is pleased to provide an update on Project Icewine,
located onshore North Slope of Alaska (77.5% working interest, 88
Energy).
Highlights
- Interpretation of modern 2D seismic data acquired by 88
Energy in early 2016 has identified multiple large conventional
leads in Brookian Sequence across the Project Icewine
acreage
- 758 million barrels of prospective mean recoverable oil
(gross) identified in current top 5 leads (587 million barrels net
to 88E, based on internal estimates) *
- “Alpha” lead located in close proximity to existing
transport infrastructure and Trans Alaskan Pipeline with 118
million barrels prospective mean recoverable oil (gross)*
- Further seismic interpretation and mapping ongoing: ~50%
complete with potential for additional leads to be
identified
Seismic Interpretation and Mapping
88 Energy has progressed the interpretation of the 2D seismic
data acquired early in 2016. Based on the preliminary
interpretation 88E has identified a number of encouraging
conventional leads within the Brookian sequence. These leads
are predominantly stratigraphic and considered to be associated
with slope apron and basin floor fan systems. Although at an early
stage of assessment 88E is encouraged and considers them to have
similar potential to other productive fan plays identified on the
North Slope. At this interim stage approximately 20 leads have been
provisionally mapped across the Icewine acreage of which five key
leads have been prioritised for early maturation and are summarised
in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Prospective
Oil Resources (Unrisked Recoverable)* for Current Top 5 Ranked
Leads |
Name |
P90 |
P50 |
P10 |
Mean
(Gross) |
Mean (Net to 88E-
WI: 77.5%) |
Alpha |
19 |
71 |
263 |
118 |
91 |
Bravo |
129 |
245 |
449 |
273 |
212 |
Golf |
60 |
115 |
210 |
128 |
99 |
India |
61 |
116 |
212 |
129 |
100 |
Juliet |
52 |
99 |
181 |
110 |
85 |
Total |
|
|
|
758 |
587 |
|
*
Prospective resources classified in accordance with SPE-PRMS as at
18th October 2016 using probabilistic and deterministic methods on
an unrisked basis. Leads identified from interpretation of modern
2D seismic acquired in 2015/2016 across Project Icewine, which
comprises 271,119 gross acres on the Central North Slope of Alaska.
88 Energy is Operator of record at Project Icewine (through its
wholly owned subsidiary Accumulate Energy Alaska, Inc) with a 77.5%
working interest.
Cautionary Statement: The estimated quantities of
petroleum that may be potentially recovered by the application of a
future development project relate to undiscovered accumulations.
These estimates have both an associated risk of discovery and a
risk of development. Further exploration, appraisal and evaluation
are required to determine the existence of a significant quantity
of potentially movable hydrocarbons. |
88E is encouraged by the potential resource size of the leads
and will undertake further technical work in order to mature the
evolving conventional portfolio from which future likely drilling
candidates will be selected.
Additional information on Project Icewine and the Alpha and
Bravo leads, which the Company believes are representative of the
play potential across the Icewine acreage, is set out in the pdf
version of the announcement which is available on the Company’s
website www.88energy.com.
88E will provide further updates to the market as the technical
work progresses.
Managing Director of 88 Energy Limited, Dave Wall commented:
“Whilst the HRZ remains the Company’s
primary target and the focus of our short-term activity with the
upcoming Icewine#2 well scheduled for spud in the first quarter of
next year, the interim results from the 2D seismic acquired earlier
this year have significantly exceeded our expectations.
It has taken a little longer than
initially planned to process and interpret, as the number of
features we are seeing is greater than anticipated. Further
interpretation and analysis is ongoing and the final findings from
that process will be announced later in the year.
We expect the two recent billion
barrel discoveries in the Brookian sequence by both Armstrong Oil
& Gas and Caelus Energy to be a catalyst for increased industry
interest in the region. Whilst not strictly analogous to the
Brookian play potential at Project Icewine, these discoveries
highlight the significant conventional oil resource on the North
Slope yet to be discovered through utilisation of modern seismic
technology.”
Media and Investor Relations:
88 Energy Ltd
Dave Wall, Managing Director
Finlay Thomson, Investor Relations |
Tel: +61 8 9485 0990
Tel: +44 7976 248471 |
Hartleys Ltd
Dale Bryan |
Tel: +61 8 9268 2829 |
Cenkos Securities
Neil McDonald/Derrick Lee |
Tel: +44 131 220 6939 |
Pursuant to the requirements of the ASX Listing Rules Chapter 5
and the AIM Rules for Companies, the technical information and
resource reporting contained in this announcement was prepared by,
or under the supervision of, Mr Brent
Villemarette, who is a Non Executive Director of the
Company. Mr Villemarette has more than 30 years' experience in the
petroleum industry and is a qualified Reservoir Engineer who has
sufficient experience that is relevant to the style and nature of
the oil prospects under consideration and to the activities
discussed in this document. His academic qualifications and
industry memberships appear on the Company's website and both
comply with the criteria for "Competence" under clauses 18-21 of
the Valmin Code 2005. Terminology and standards adopted by the
Society of Petroleum Engineers "Petroleum Resources Management
System" have been applied in producing this document.
About 88 Energy: 88 Energy has a 77.5%
working interest and operatorship in ~271,000 acres onshore the
prolific North Slope of Alaska
(“Project Icewine”). The North Slope is the host to the 15 billion
barrel Prudhoe Bay oilfield
complex, the largest conventional oil pool in North America. The Company, with its Joint
Venture partner Burgundy Xploration, has identified three highly
prospective play types that are likely to exist on the Project
Icewine acreage – two conventional and one unconventional. The
large unconventional resource potential of Project Icewine was
independently verified by leading international petroleum resource
consultant DeGolyer and MacNaughton. In addition to the interpreted
high prospectivity, the project is strategically located on a
year-round operational access road and only 35 miles south of Pump
Station 1 where Prudhoe Bay feeds
into the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. The Company has recently
acquired 2D seismic to take advantage of the globally unique fiscal
system in Alaska, which allowed
for up to 75% of 1H2016 exploration expenditure to be rebated in
cash. Interim results from this seismic are encouraging, having
identified several large leads. In late 2015, the Company completed
its maiden well at the project, Icewine#1, to evaluate an
unconventional source rock reservoir play which yielded excellent
results from analysis of core obtained from the HRZ shale. A
follow-up well with a multi-stage stimulation and test of the HRZ
shale, Icewine#2, is planned for 1Q2017.