LONDON (Alliance News) - Pantheon Resources PLC, 88 Energy Ltd and Red Emperor Resources NL on Wednesday said the total depth was reached at Winx-1 exploration well on the North Slope of Alaska.
The Winx prospect is an oil prospect in the Nanushuk play fairway with a gross prospective resource of 400 million barrels. 88 Energy holds 36% in the Winx-1 well and is the operator, Pantheon Resources has 10% stake and Red Emperor holds 31.5% interest.
The partners said the Winx-1 well was drilled to depth of 6,800 feet and intersected all of the pre-drill targets safely and efficiently. As a result, multiple potential pay zones identified in the Nanushuk formation topset play and Torok formation.
Looking ahead, the companies said a comprehensive wireline logging programme is due to begin on Wednesday to verify the prospectivity of the zones of interest. The work is expected to tke about 10 days.
Based on the results, a decision will be made on whether to proceed with production testing of the most prospective zone within the Nanushuk formation.
"Whilst it is still early days, we are well placed and look to the wireline program with measured optimism," said 88 Energy Managing Director Dave Wall.
"We will need to await logging operations before we can make a more meaningful assessment as to the potential of the well," added Pantheon Chief Executive Jay Cheatham.
In addition, Pantheon said construction of the ice road to the Alkaid well pad, also in Alaska, has been completed. The All American oilfield rig 111 has been mobilized to location in preparation for well re-entry and testing.
Pantheon said the Alkaid exploration well was drilled as a vertical test well in 2015 however was not flow-tested at that time due to extensive flooding to the region.
Flow testing of the primary ZOI target is designed to evaluate the reservoir parameters, the company explained, including reservoir pressure and permeability. Reservoir fluids will be sampled through a swab test and potentially with a fracture stimulation.
"The ice road and rig mobilization were accomplished ahead of schedule. We are now poised to test three large potential hydrocarbon accumulations," said Pantheon's Cheatham.
88 Energy shares were trading 25% higher on Wednesday at 1.16 pence each, while Pantheon was up 18% at 27.95p. Shares in Red Emperor more than doubled to 6.74p.
88 Energy (88E)
Pantheon Res (PANR)