88 Energy (88E) has upgraded the prospective resource estimate for its 100%-owned South Prudhoe Project on Alaska’s North Slope, increasing total gross unrisked 2U prospective resources by about 35% to 768.9 million barrels of oil and natural gas liquids, or 640.7 million barrels net to the company.
The update follows further geophysical analysis of 3D seismic data and reinforces South Prudhoe as a significant multi-reservoir opportunity, with the project located immediately south of the Prudhoe Bay Unit and Kuparuk River Unit - two of North America’s most prolific oil producing areas.
The revised estimate includes a maiden prospective resource for the Brookian reservoir interval in the North-West Hub, adding 181.5 million barrels gross unrisked 2U and materially expanding the project’s stacked reservoir potential. Meanwhile, the North-West Hub’s Ivishak estimate has been upgraded by about 44% to 69.9 million barrels gross following further technical work.
As a result, the Augusta-1 exploration well is now expected to test up to 133.7 million barrels of gross unrisked 2U prospective resources across the Ivishak, Kuparuk and Brookian intervals, with multiple potential pay zones identified within a single drilling target. The company noted that Ivishak, Kuparuk and West Sak are all proven producing reservoirs with nearby well control and direct analogues in adjacent producing fields.
88 Energy’s Managing Director Ashley Gilbert said: “The work conducted by our technical team in preparing this updated Prospective Resource Estimate represents another major step forward for 88 Energy and confirms our South Prudhoe Project as a significant-scale, multi-reservoir oil opportunity.
The maiden Brookian resource adds a significant shallow resource component to the North-West Hub, while the upgraded Ivishak estimate strengthens the scale and quality of the deeper conventional reservoir targets at Augusta. Importantly, these reservoirs sit within a proven producing fairway, immediately adjacent to some of the largest and most productive oilfields in North America.”
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This is a meaningful technical upgrade for 88 Energy, particularly as it increases the scale of the near-term Augusta drilling target while adding a new shallow reservoir component. With rig access already secured and multiple proven reservoir analogues nearby, South Prudhoe is shaping up as one of the company’s clearest exploration catalysts.