Highlights
· Permit to Drill for the Merlin-2 appraisal well approved
· Commissioning of the Arctic Fox completed – mobilisation to commence
· Spud of Merlin-2 scheduled for early March 2022
88 Energy Limited (ASX:88E, AIM:88E, OTC:EEENF) ( 88 Energy or the Company ) is pleased to confirm that the Permit to Drill has been approved by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the Merlin-2 appraisal well, located in Project Peregrine in the NPR-A region of the North Slope of Alaska.
Commissioning of the Arctic Fox rig has been completed, with mobilisation to the Merlin-2 drilling location commencing. Pioneering of the single lane snow road to the Merlin-2 location has also been completed.
The Merlin-2 well is now scheduled to spud in early March 2022 with drilling expected to take approximately 3 – 4 weeks, including wireline logging.
Managing Director, Ashley Gilbert, commented:
“Following a period of review we are pleased to have the PTD in hand, and the mobilisation of the Arctic Fox rig commencing to the drilling location ahead of spud in early March 2022. We look forward with excitement to the drilling of the highly anticipated Merlin-2 appraisal well.”
The Merlin-2 appraisal well is planned for a Total Depth of 8,000 feet, and is targeting 652 million barrels of oil 1,2 in the highly prospective N18, N19 and N20 targets that were encountered in the successful Merlin-1 well (drilled in March 2021 to a depth of 5,267 feet). Merlin-1 demonstrated the presence of oil in these multiple stacked sequences within the Brookian Nanushuk Formation.
Further details on the upcoming operations at the highly prospective Merlin-2 appraisal well, and the Company’s other activities, are contained in the Company’s latest corporate presentation, which is available on 88 Energy’s website at www.88energy.com.
1 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.
2 Mean unrisked prospective resource – Net Entitlement to 88 Energy. Refer announcement released to ASX on 16 August 2021
The below graphics can be viewed in the pdf version of this announcement, which is available on the Company’s website www.88energy.com:
· Snow road construction for Merlin-2
· Wireframe image showing respective Merlin-1 and Merlin-2 well locations, facing east and overlain with predicted reservoir sands profile.
· Project Peregrine and Recent Nanushuk Discoveries.
Media and Investor Relations:
88 Energy Ltd
Ashley Gilbert, Managing Director
Tel: +61 8 9485 0990
Email:[email protected]
