By Samuel Indyk
Investing.com – AIM-listed energy company 88 Energy (LON:88E) has today provided an update on its operations on the North Slop of Alaska.
The company said sidewall cores, mud gas and fluid samples taken from Merlin-1 are now undergoing testing to determine oil saturation, oil typing, PVT characteristics, porosity, permeability, and rock mechanics. Cuttings will also go through a volatiles analysis service (VAS) to assist with the interpretation of results from the well.
The company said that during drilling of Merlin-1 several prospective zones were encountered that had previously been unmapped. 88 Energy said the early work is “encouraging”.
“The oil shows and other encouragement seen in the Merlin-1 well bodes well for the potential at Project Peregrine and we look forward to providing the results from the laboratory analysis over the coming weeks,” said 88 Energy Managing Director David Wall.
88 Energy has also been monitoring activity nearby to the northern border of its Project Icewine acreage, where a flow of light oil from Kuparuk has been reported from the Talitha-A well. This was documented by Pantheon Resources earlier this month. Shares in Pantheon (LON:PANR) tumbled on the news after the low flow rate of the well and as they encountered a number of operational issues.
However, 88 Energy says the results from Talitha-A are highly encouraging regionally for the Kuparuk, including across Project Icewine, and 88 Energy are now reassessing the potential across the acreage.
“It is […] highly positive to see pay zones and a flow rate of light oil achieved from zones on adjacent acreage that are also prospective at Project Icewine, where an internal review has commenced to determine the significance of the neighbouring results,” Wall added.
At 10:48BST, 88 Energy shares were trading higher by 7.6% at 1.30p per share.