88 Energy Limited subsidiary Captivate Energy Alaska was awarded notices from the Alaskan Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Oil and Gas Division, covering the entire Project Leonis lease area. In late 2022, Captivate Energy Alaska was declared the highest bidder for select acreage offered as part of the North Slope Areawide 2022 Oil and Gas lease sale. The Project Leonis acreage comprises 10 leases covering approximately 25,430 contiguous acres.
Ashley Gilbert, 88 Energy managing director, said, “Project Leonis benefits from proximity to infrastructure and services at Prudhoe Bay and Deadhorse, as well as a historical well that indicated oil shows and calculated pay in the Upper Schrader Bluff (USB) zone of interest. Importantly, the lease area is covered by an existing 3D data suite, allowing us to undertake detailed, informed analysis to properly understand the exploration opportunity. Our team will now be busy utilizing a suite of modern analysis techniques to further advance the project.”
The Project Leonis lease area is fully covered by the Storms 3D seismic data suite and contains the historical exploration well, Hemi Springs Unit #3, drilled by ARCO in 1985. Historical drilling targeted the deep Kuparuk and Ivishak reservoirs, the main producing intervals in the giant northern fields at that time. Review of the Hemi Springs Unit #3 well indicated over 200 ft of low-resistivity bypassed log pay within the USB reservoir, with good porosity and oil shows evident over this interval. Nearby oil fields—Orion, Polaris, West Sak, and Milne Point—demonstrate successful development of the USB reservoir.
Further analysis will determine the future potential of the acreage and define a possible exploration program and timeline for the project.