88 Energy Limited Rig Contract Executed for Drilling of Icewine#2 (0474X)

TIDM88E

RNS Number : 0474X

88 Energy Limited

16 February 2017

This Announcement Contains Inside Information.

16 February 2017

Rig Contract Executed for Drilling of Icewine#2

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.

Highlights

   --     Rig contract executed for drilling of Icewine#2 appraisal well 

o Doyon Drilling Inc's ("Doyon") Arctic Fox rig expected to mobilise to Icewine#2 location between 30(th) March - 30(th) April post completion of drilling on nearby acreage

   --     Spud date revised from late Q1 2017 to early Q2 2017 

Managing Director of 88 Energy Limited, Dave Wall commented: "We are delighted to be working with Doyon for the upcoming drilling of Icewine#2. The Arctic Fox is one of the premier rigs on the North Slope and will be coming to us 'warm' off its current job, which has several significant benefits.

As soon as the Arctic Fox finishes work associated with its current job, we will be ready to start mobilisation and rig up for Icewine#2. Spud is now scheduled for a few short weeks post our initial plan of late Q1 2017.

Additional details in relation to the Icewine#2 well will be released to the market in due course."

Icewine#2 Progress Update

On 16(th) February 2017, Accumulate Energy Alaska, Inc entered into a contract with Doyon Drilling Inc to utilise the drilling rig, Arctic Fox, for drilling of the Icewine#2 appraisal well. The Arctic Fox is currently completing drilling operations on nearby acreage on the North Slope and is expected to mobilise to the Icewine#2 wellsite between 30(th) March and 30(th) April 2017, with spud to follow shortly thereafter.

Media and Investor Relations:

88 Energy Ltd

Dave Wall, Managing Director Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

   Finlay Thomson, Investor Relations                                         Tel: [phone] 

Hartleys Ltd

Dale Bryan Tel: + 61 8 9268 2829

Cenkos Securities

Neil McDonald/Derrick Lee Tel: [phone]

About Doyon: Doyon Drilling Inc. (DDI) operates on the North Slope of Alaska with eight of the most unique oil and gas land drilling rigs specially designed to drill oil wells in extreme conditions. In 1982 as a joint venture between Doyon, Limited, an Alaska Native regional corporation, and Nugget Alaska, Inc. DDI was formed. In 1993 DDI became a wholly owned subsidiary of Doyon, Limited.

Project Icewine Overview

In November 2014, the Company entered into a binding agreement with Burgundy Xploration (BEX) to acquire a significant working interest (87.5%, reducing to 77.5% on spud of the first well on the project) in a large acreage position on a multiple objective, liquids rich exploration opportunity onshore Alaska, North America, referred to as Project Icewine. In June 2016, the gross acreage position was expanded to 271,119 contiguous acres (210,250 acres net to the Company). In December 2016 the Company successfully bid on additional acres. On award the Project Icewine gross acreage position will be further expanded to 690,000 contiguous acres (400,000 acres net to the Company assuming all rights are taken up).

The Project is located on an all year operational access road with both conventional and unconventional oil potential. The primary term for the State leases is 10 years with no mandatory relinquishment and a low 16.5% royalty.

The HRZ liquids-rich resource play has been successfully evaluated based on core obtained in the recently completed (December 2015) Icewine #1 exploration well, marking the completion of Phase I of Project Icewine. Phase II has now commenced, with a followup appraisal well, Icewine#2, due to spud early 2Q2017. Icewine#2 has been designed as a vertical well with a multi-stage stimulation and flow test, to assess the production potential of the HRZ.

Significant conventional prospectivity has also been identified on recently acquired 2D seismic across the project acreage.

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.

Generous exploration incentives are provided by the State of Alaska with up to 35% of net operating loss refundable in cash.

The primary objective is an untested, unconventional liquids-rich shale play in a prolific source rock, the HRZ shale (Brookian Sequence), that co-sourced the largest oil field in North America; the giant Prudhoe Bay Oil Field Complex. Internal modelling and analysis indicates that Project Icewine is located in a high liquids vapour phase sweetspot analogous to those encountered in other Tier 1 shale plays e.g. the Eagle Ford, Texas.

Recently acquired 2D seismic has identified large conventional leads at Project Icewine within the same Brookian petroleum system and shallow to the HRZ shale, including potential high porosity channel and turbiditic sands associated with slope apron and deepwater fan plays. The Brookian conventional play is proven on the North Slope; the USGS (2013) estimated the remaining oil potential to be 2.1 billion barrels within the Brookian sequence. Two recent discoveries in the Brookian have already exceeded these estimates, with Armstrong/Repsol discovering 1.4 billion barrels in 2015 and Caelus announcing a 2.5 billion barrel discovery in 2016. Additional conventional potential exists in the Brookian delta topset play, deeper Kuparuk sands and the Ivishak Formation.

A Prospective Resources Report by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, was commissioned by 88 Energy to evaluate the unconventional resource potential of Project Icewine in February 2016 and was released to the market on 6(th) April 2016.

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"). Gross contiguous acreage position will expand on award of additional leases successfully bid on in the December 2016 State of Alaska North Slope Licensing Round.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 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 acquired 2D seismic in early 2016 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. Results from the seismic mapping and prospectivity review are encouraging, and form the basis of a conventional prospectivity portfolio for Project Icewine. 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 due to spud early 2Q2017.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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February 16, 2017 03:00 ET (08:00 GMT)