Whitebark itching to play fetch as it begins fracture stimulation of Rex-4 well

Whitebark is preparing to carry out hydraulic fracture stimulation before bringing its Rex-4 well in the Wizard Lake oil and gas field into production.

The company has engaged a STEP Energy Services stimulation crew to carry out the fracking work, which is expected to be completed within approved budget.

Fracking is scheduled to begin on or around 17 October with completion expected a day after before initial clean-up flow production begins shortly thereafter.

Whitebark Energy (ASX:WBE) expects initial post-clean up production to be about 300 barrels of oil and 1.4 million standard cubic feet of gas per day from the second quarter of 2023.

This will quadruple current Wizard Lake production to about 750 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

At current oil prices, this could increase its net operating income by C$4m to C$6.2m within 12 months from Rex-4 production.

It follows the successful completion of a $2.5m capital raising to fund the fracture stimulation and improve the efficiency of the broader Wizard Lake field.

“We are extremely excited to announce the engagement of preferred service providers for the stage 2 drilling program at Rex-4 at relatively short notice in a highly competitive operational environment,” interim chief executive officer Dr Simon Brealey said.

“I am confident in the team’s ability to put into effect the lessons learnt from the wellbore management practices of previous wells and apply them not only at Rex-4 but at subsequent wells, as the Wizard Lake asset becomes capable of self-funding two to three new wells per year.

“I believe that revised production and reserve assumptions adopted in our economic analyses reflect realistic, deliverable outcomes from our development program, and I am proud to be part of this growth period for the company.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Whitebark Energy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.