• Drilling of the Hickory-1 exploration well has commenced.
• Initial surface hole to be drilled to ~3,500 feet, cased and BOP system tested.
• Hickory-1 well is designed to appraise up to six conventional reservoir targets within the SMD, SFS, BFF and KUP reservoirs and 647 million barrels of oil

88 Energy reports that Nordic Calista’s Rig-2 has commenced drilling of the Hickory-1 exploration well, located in Project Phoenix on the North Slope of Alaska.

Hickory-1 is designed to appraise up to six conventional reservoir targets within the SMD, SFS, BFF and KUP reservoirs and 647 million barrels of oil1,2, and is permitted to a total depth (TD) of up to 12,500 feet. The primary targets for Hickory-1 are the 3 SMD reservoirs (SMD-C, B and A), with SFS and BFF reservoirs considered secondary targets. The KUP reservoir is a tertiary target and will be drilled subject to remaining time in the season, borehole conditions and other technical considerations.

Hickory-1 is planned to be initially drilled to 3,500 feet, with surface casing installed and the Blow-Out Preventer (BOP) system tested. This is anticipated to collectively take up to two weeks. Drilling to TD is then expected to take a further two weeks, including logging while drilling (LWD), at which point wireline logging is scheduled. LWD and mudlogging will provide initial indications as to the prospectivity of the Hickory-1 targets. The wireline program has been specifically designed to collect essential data, necessary to optimise the future flow testing program. This includes multiple side wall coring runs and other specialised tools to enable detailed reservoir characterisation.

Flow testing of the Hickory-1 well is planned to be undertaken during the 2023/24 winter season, subject to well results. This provides ample time post-drilling to optimise the flow test program, design, permitting and implementation.

KeyFacts Energy: 88 Energy US Alaska country profile