88 Energy Halves Losses but Augusta-1 Well Stays Unfunded

88 Energy (LON: 88E), the Alaska North Slope oil explorer also dual-listed on the ASX, said today its net loss for the six months to 30 June narrowed sharply to $1.78m from $20.47m a year earlier, though shares were little changed on the update.

The shares closed yesterday at 1.05p, flat on the previous close, within a 52-week range of 0.90p to 2.20p. In early trade today they were quoted around 1.065p on thin volume of 17,460 shares, too light to read as a firm market verdict.

The improvement was driven mainly by the absence of a $16.57m impairment on an associate investment that hit the year-earlier period, rather than by any change in the underlying business. Cash rose to A$8.2m from A$6.8m at 31 December, after a A$5.0m share placement completed in April, underlining 88 Energy’s continued reliance on equity funding over operating cash flow. Net assets edged up to $88.5m from $87.6m.

The commercial substance sits in South Prudhoe, where the company’s internal prospective resource estimate, an unproven best estimate of oil that might be found before drilling confirms it, has risen to 768.9 million barrels gross unrisked, up from an initial 507 million barrels in February. The Augusta-1 well, designed to test up to 133.7 million barrels of that resource, is still targeting spud, the point drilling actually begins, in the first quarter of 2027, a timeline that remains subject to funding and permitting.

88 Energy also amended its Namibia farm-in agreement, cancelling later-stage obligations to cut future capital exposure by roughly $15m while keeping its 20% working interest fully earned, freeing capital for the Alaska programme. Subsequent to the period, the company was formally awarded 14 North Slope leases covering about 34,301 gross acres, paying $1.08m for them on 30 July.