Technical issues plague 88 Energy’s Merlin-1 test program

Technical issues have prevented 88 Energy Ltd., Perth, from sampling prospective hydrocarbon zones in the Merlin-1 wildcat in its Project Peregrine on the North Slope of Alaska (OGJ Online, Mar. 29, 2021).

The company said that the first run of the wireline program identified several potential pay zones corresponding to the shows and logs encountered during drilling and the nuclear magnetic resonance indicated good mobility across most of the zones.

However, the second run— designed to take samples across these zones—suffered a power failure and the sampling tool had to be withdrawn from the hole. The run back in was plagued by poor holes conditions. A clean-out failed to rectify the problem as communication with the test zone could not be re-established.

Samples from less prospective zones were gathered on the way out of the hole and will be sent for analysis. The company said that, while these are encouraging for regional prospectivity, they do not constitute a discovery.

Time is limited for the Arctic drilling season and Merlin-1 has been plugged, although it may be re-entered at a later date to drill a sidetrack well to conduct flow testing.

Wile some uncertainty remains, Merlin-1 has provided the best outcome of any of the five wells drilled by the company in its Alaskan acreage during the last 6 years, said David Wall, 88 Energy managing director.