 broke down through 3.5p this morning as the selloff that started after their drilling update on Monday continues.){kind=link}
88 Energy (LON:88E) broke down through 3.5p this morning as the selloff that started after their drilling update on Monday continues.
88 Energy (LON:88E) are drilling for oil in the North Alaskan slopes where there is thought be as much as 3.6 million billion barrels of oil in their Icewine field.
Monday’s update was less optimistic than investors had hoped and signaled a setback in the program.
Stimulation fluid
The stimulation fluid recovered was approximately 8 percent, falling short of the 30 percent needed to be recovered before hydrocarbons can be recovered.
Managing Director Dave Wall commented on the update: “We continue to monitor pressure and flowback of stimulation fluid whilst we wait for hydrocarbons to be released from the reservoir. Given that we are breaking new ground in relation to the HRZ formation, we need to establish the conditions under which the hydrocarbon cut will return and then increase.
“The stimulation was executed precisely as per plan with over one million lbs of proppant placed into the formation. A little patience is now required as we give the rocks time to show us what they can deliver.”
The company said investors will be updated when further developments are known.
North Alaskan Oil
88 Energy are drilling for oil in North Alaska which has seen a revival in discoveries in recent years after years of decline.
Discoveries such as the 1.2 billion find by Repsol have made Alaska an exciting prospect once more – and it couldn’t come soon enough.
The Trans-Alaska pipeline has been dangerously flirting with becoming uneconomical, meaning the recent finds bode well for future production in the area.
There has been some pressure from environmental groups due to the close proximity of drilling operations with the Artic ring.
However, a recent report by the Wilderness Society suggested current areas of operation, including Icewine, are sustainable.
“The pipeline will continue operating for decades, with no need to drill in controversial, ecologically important and federally protected Arctic regions, i.e., the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, off-limits portions of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and the Arctic Ocean,” the report read.