88 Energy (88E ) told investors that commissioning of the Arctic Fox rig has now commenced ahead of mobilisation to the Merlin-2 drilling location where permitting and planning for a proposed well is now ‘largely complete,’ with the well on track to spud in February 2022.
In an operations update released this morning, the Alaskan-based explorer highlighted that construction of the single lane snow road to the Merlin-2 location, which is located in the Project Peregrine in the NPR-A region of the North Slope of Alaska, has also commenced.
The Group noted ‘good conditions’ in the field and construction of the snow road on schedule.
88 Energy said the Merlin-2 Permit to Drill is now in the final stages of review by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and remains on schedule to be issued ahead of rig mobilisation.
88 Energy also noted today that it is aware of media reports of correspondence to the BLM from the Centre for Biological Diversity (CBD) with respect to the Permit to Drill for the Merlin-2 well. The CBD is a not-for-profit environmental activist group in the U.S, it explained.
Shares in 88 Energy were trading 4.84% higher this morning at 1.625p following the news.
With the current status of the review of the Permit to Drill by the BLM, as well as numerous other related approvals and permits from various government agencies, 88 Energy is nearing completion of permitting and the well remains on track to spud in February 2022, it detailed.
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, which was spudded in March 2021 and completed in April, has demonstrated the presence of oil in these multiple stacked sequences within the Brookian Nanushuk Formation.
Interpretation of results was completed in August 2021 with post well evaluation successfully demonstrating the presence of oil in N20, N19 and N18 targets, with 41 feet of net log pay across the three reservoir intervals noted and geochemical analysis determining the oil to have an estimated API gravity between mid-30 to low-40 API (light oil), 88E reiterated.
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