30th Mar 2016 09:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - 88 Energy Ltd on Wednesday said further analysis of the core taken from the Icewine-1 exploration well in Alaska has revealed two previously untested samples have "outstanding permeability" that is 20 times better than originally expected.
The company said the two core samples had such high permeability that it was unable to measure it using traditional methods, prompting the company to test the permeability using pulse decay permeability analysis.
The permeability is affected by the pressure of the rocks and is the property of those rocks that shows how easily fluids or gas can pass through them. The higher the permeability, the more fluid or gas that can flow to surface at a quicker rate.
"As expected, the permeability results from the 'super highways' are excellent and provide further support for a resource play that could yield production rates more akin to those normally experienced in conventional wells. An increasing body of evidence from Icewine-1 supports a case for potentially exceptional flow rates from the HRZ" shale formation, said Managing Director Dave Wall.
The HRZ shale formation has been the company's focus during the drilling of Icewine-1, which last month the company said could contain a "tier 1 liquids-rich hydrocarbon concentration with world class resource prize potential" after revealing the well had a gross pay of 196.0 feet and a net pay of 180.5 feet.
Although 88 Energy said production rates from Icewine-1 could be comparable to a conventional oil well, the company has said in the past that Icewine-1 would be highly amenable to fracture stimulation operations, otherwise known as fracking.
Building on the success of Icewine-1, 88 Energy is now working on the second well, Icewine-2H, where it is hoping to deliver further high flow rates. The company is planning to drill that well but is currently working on the permitting and planning process.
Icewine-2 will be a horizontal, multi-frack appraisal well that will test the potential production of the HRZ shale formation.
88 Energy said it is still refining the frack design of the well, focusing on proppant embedment, fluid sensitivity and borehole stability.
Proppant embedement determines the optimal size and type of proppant to use in the well, which is a solid material such as sand that is designed to keep a fracture open during or after fracking a well.
Fluid sensitivity analyses the best type of fluid to use to carry the proppant whilst minimising the chemical interaction with the rock, whilst borehole stability determines the stress direction to ensure the company orientates the lateral section of drilling correctly.
The 2D seismic programme which was launched earlier this month over the project has also started, and is currently 15% complete.
88 Energy said the independent resource report for the project is on track to be released in early-to-mid April. The report will include the results from the samples taken from the HRZ shale formation in the Icewine-1 well and the additional acreage that was secured back in November 2015.
88 Energy shares were down 2.2% to 3.57 pence per share on Wednesday.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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