88 Energy shares advance as it prepares to restart operations at Merlin-1
(88E ) has released an operations update detailing that field operations for the Merlin-1 exploration well are expected to re-commence in Alaska ‘in the next few days’ after receiving indication from the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") that its permit is very close to being complete.
The news follows a six day delay after President Joe Biden signed an executive order placing a temporary moratorium on oil and gas activity in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Alaskan-focused explorer said today that the Alaska branch of the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") is reviewing the permit to drill, submitted on the 12th January, and has indicated that it is now very close to being complete with only minor outstanding items.
88E said it expects the process to be finalised by Thursday while it has now received confirmation from BLM that the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals intends to sign the permit, subject to satisfactory completion of the standard review process by the BLM.
88E confirmed that there are no material costs related to the permit approval and that field operations are now expected to recommence in the next few days after the 6-day delay.
Managing Director of 88 Energy, Dave Wall, commented: "We are fortunate to have strong local support in Alaska and, as a result, will soon be back on track for the drilling of Merlin-1, commencing in late February / early March 2021."
As previously outlined, Merlin-1 is scheduled for spud in mid-late February 2021 and is targeting 645m barrels of gross mean prospective resource to start immediately following completion of operations at Merlin-1, subject to results from Merlin-1 and weather.
The Company added that its trading halt on ASX has now been lifted.
Significant relief from investors this morning as the shares recover towards pre-election highs of 0.65p. Shares in 88 Energy, which have more than doubled since the beginning of November 2020, jumped by 38.10% this morning to 0.58p following the announcement.
Reasons to Follow 88E
Project Portfolio Across Alaska’s North Slope
The Alaskan explorer completed its acquisition of XCD Energy, which holds a 100% Working Interest in the highly prospective Alaskan North Slope, back in August 2020. The merged entity has formed a diversified portfolio of exploration projects on Alaska’s North Slope.
The combined company will have increased scale, market presence along with higher funding capability and trading liquidity across the ASX and London AIM exchanges.
The three key projects include Project Icewine, Yukon leases and Project Peregrine with the assets at various stages of development, the company previously outlined this summer.
In late 2020, 88E was also formally re-assigned the "Area A" leases at Project Icewine meaning its working interest in around 40% of the project has increased from 30% to 75%.
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