88 Energy (88E) , an Alaska-focused hydrocarbon explorer, issued a further update on its upcoming flow testing programme at the Hickory-1 discovery well, part of 88 Energy's flagship Project Phoenix on Alaska's North Slope.
88 Energy said final preparations were ongoing for the upcoming flow test, aiming to assess 647 million barrels of prospective oil resources. 88E elaborated that mobilisation operations had concluded and pre-flow operations were rapidly advancing, including testing of blow-out preventers (BOP) installed on the wellhead.
Two flow tests are scheduled, one each for the Upper SFS and SMD-B reservoirs (see map below), with each expected to take approximately 10 days. Flow testing operations are set to deliver critical information to development planning, such as reservoir deliverability, fluid compositions, pressures and connectivity.
Once final preparations are in place, investors should expect a further update on commencement of the flow test. Operations will start with retrieval of the kill string in the well, followed by drill out of plugs, clean-up of the wellbore, and change-out to completion fluid prior to perforation of the first zone.
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More good news from Project Phoenix as 88 Energy readies Hickory-1 for flow testing, expected in the coming days. All American Oilfield's Rig 111 has been commissioned for the test, and is now fully mobilised. The test aims to assess 647 million barrels of prospective oil resources.
The main test targets will be the Slope Fan System (SFS) and Shelf Margin Deltaic (SMD) (see map below), each planned to be tested separately over 10 days. 88E previously extended the scope of the upper SFS, showing the reservoir to be more extensive than originally mapped, correlating over 7km to strong shows in the Icewine-1 well.
Hickory-1 is a vertical well, designed to provide information critical to development planning, such as reservoir deliverability, fluid compositions, pressures and connectivity. The well will be used for testing only. For production, horizontal wells are planned, modeled to deliver 6-12 times greater flow rates than vertical wells.
88 Energy is optimistic about flow test results from Hickory-1, as its northern neighbor on Alaska's North Slope, Pantheon Resources, recently announced a significant, 3rd party estimated 2C contingent resource for the Lower Basin Floor Fan reservoir - one of the deepest hydrocarbon-bearing pay zones intersected by Hickory-1. 88 Energy plans to flow test this reservoir as well. Offset exploration vertical well tests, similar to Hickory-1, have all flowed in the 50-100 BOPD range per test.
Last week, 88 Energy announced that its JV partner Burgundy had caught up with payments following difficulties last year, and fully committed to financing its share of Project Phoenix's expenses. Combined with 88 Energy's November £5.3m fundraise, the company is fully funded to develop Project Phoenix and its other projects in Alaska, Texas, and Namibia.
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