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88 Energy reports some oil prospects Seismic data indicates multiple conventional leads, with the five top prospects having combined potential of 758 million barrels ALAN BAILEY Petroleum News
Australian independent 88 Energy Ltd. has announced some findings from interpreting the 2-D seismic data that the company acquired in its acreage south of the Prudhoe Bay unit early this year. The company says that it has identified some 20 conventional oil prospects in the Brookian sequence, with five of these prospects appearing particularly promising. The interpretation and mapping from the seismic data is now about 50 percent complete, with the possibility of identifying further prospects, 88 Energy said in an Oct. 18 announcement.
Based on an interpretation of the seismic, the five top prospects may hold a combined mean volume of 758 million barrels of oil, 88 Energy said. One prospect, the alpha prospect, is conveniently located on the east side of the Dalton Highway and may hold 118 million barrels of oil. The largest prospect, the bravo prospect, is some distance to the west of the highway and may hold 273 million barrels of oil. The other three top prospects may hold 128 million, 129 million and 110 million barrels of oil respectively.
“These leads are predominantly stratigraphic and considered to be associated with slope apron and basin floor fan systems,” 88 Energy said.
Unconventional and conventional Although 88 Energy’s prime focus is the evaluation of potential source rock oil development south of Prudhoe Bay using the unconventional development techniques employed in Lower 48 shale oil and gas plays, the company has said that it is also interested in conventional prospects in its North Slope leases.
Along with minority partner Burgundy Xploration, 88 Energy drilled the Icewine No. 1 well in late 2015 from an existing pad at Franklin Bluffs to assess the resource potential of the HRZ shale - one of the three stacked source rocks in the central North Slope. This winter the company plans to drill a second well, the Icewine No. 2, also from the Franklin Bluffs pad, to further evaluate the HRZ source rock interval. Originally, the company had planned to drill that second well as a lateral, using multi-stage fracturing to test the oil production potential. However, the company has decided instead to drill a vertical well and then use a multi-stage stimulation technique for testing.
As reported in the Sept. 18 issue of Petroleum News, 88 Energy has indicated several reasons for the change in well design from lateral to vertical. Those reasons include the cost of the drilling, reduced drilling risk and the common use of vertical well bores in proving the production potential in unconventional oil plays.
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