88 Energy Ltd., Perth, has been awarded a new exploration block (Project Leonis) on the North Slope of Alaska, about 15km southwest of the town of Deadhorse and 25 km north of the operator’s Project Phoenix block.
The Trans Alaska Pipeline system skirts the new block’s eastern boundary.
The award is part of the 2022 Alaskan Department of Natural Resources Oil and Gas Division’s acreage round. 88 Energy was the highest bidder for the block, which comprises 10 leases covering about 25,430 contiguous acres.
The lease area is covered by the 2005 Storms 3D seismic data suite and contains exploration well Hemi Springs Unit-3 drilled by Arco in 1985. Another well (Hailstorm-1) was drilled in 2006.
Hemi Springs targeted the deep Kuparuk and Ivishak reservoirs—the main producing intervals in the giant fields around Prudhoe Bay.
88 Energy said a well data review of Hemi Springs indicated more than 200 ft of low resistivity bypassed log pay within the USB reservoir which contained good porosity and oil shows.
Nearby oil fields such as Orion, Polaris, West Sak, and Milne Point have demonstrated successful development of the USB reservoir.
An initial reprocessing and review of the 3D data shows a strong seismic-well tie and a clear amplitude at the prospective USB level. The prospect also appears to be bounded by faults on three sides which may serve as a trapping mechanism.
88 Energy will conduct further analysis to determine the future potential of Project Leonis acreage to define a possible exploration program and timeline.
