Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Alaska-focused 88 Energy Ltd said Thursday the farm-out process for its Icewine project has continued with a final decision on approval scheduled for June.
"Final decision on approval for the conventional farm-out is now scheduled for June 2019 and we remain optimistic of a favourable outcome for our shareholders in the very near term," said Managing Director Dave Wall.
He added: "It is also encouraging that recent analysis of the HRZ provides both some answers as to why Icewine 2 did not flow as expected but also that the play remains prospective on our leasehold."
The unconventional objective, a shale complex in the Prudhoe Bay oil field, has undergone further analysis, which has confirmed it is an "excellent" source rock, according to 88 Energy.
"The nature of the dominant kerogen in the HRZ has been demonstrated to be prone to more rapid transformation into hydrocarbons than other shales initially used for comparison. This means that the thermal maturity window for volatile oil in the HRZ is at lower temperature than that typically seen in other plays," the company added.
The formal farm-out process for the unconventional objective is being delayed to the second half to allow this analysis to be completed.
88 Energy said it has begun discussion with nearby lease owners at its own Yukon leases in an attempt to "optimise the monetisation strategy for existing discovered resources".
Elsewhere, the company has made "good progress" at its Western blocks on integrating the Winx-1 well into existing 3D seismic volumes. The evaluation work is expected to be completed towards the end of 2019.
Shares in 88 Energy were up 10% Thursday at 0.84 pence each.
