88 Energy reports 3,500ft drilling depth at Charlie-1 appraisal well

Exploration company 88 Energy has announced that it has drilled the Charlie-1 appraisal well in the US to about 3,500ft depth.

The Charlie-1 appraisal well forms part of Project Icewine, located on the Central North Slope in Alaska, US.

According to the company, the spudding of the well has so far seen the completion of the surface hole down at a depth of 3,500ft. It will now run casing, as planned, in the 12.25in hole before drilling the 8.5in production hole.

The exploration firm began drilling operations at the appraisal well last week.

Subject to results, 88 Energy anticipates that it may test the Charlie-1 well in April.

In January, 88 Energy announced that the drilling of the appraisal well was progressing towards spudding.

Under a farm-out agreement finalised in November, partner Premier Oil will pay up to $23bn of the Charlie-1 well’s costs.

The well aims to appraise the undeveloped Malguk discovery made by BP Alaska in the early 1990s.

In 2018, 88 Energy completed the acquisition of modern three-dimensional (3D) seismic models. This helped to determine the extent of oil accumulations at the discovery.

In April 2017, the company received permission to drill the Icewine-2 well at Project Icewine from the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC).