Alkaid Production Unit & Operational Update

RNS Number : 6467X

Pantheon Resources PLC

01 September 2020

 

01 September, 2020

Pantheon Resources plc

 Alkaid Production Unit & Operational Update

Pantheon Resources plc ("Pantheon" or "the Company"), the AIM-quoted oil and gas exploration company is pleased to provide the following update on its 89.2% - 100% owned projects on the Alaskan North Slope:

Alkaid Project Production Unit

Our Alaska subsidiary, Great Bear Pantheon, has received notice from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that the application to form the Alkaid Production Unit of 22,804 acres is complete and eligible for approval. The DNR has opened a 30-day public comment period on the application and must make a decision on the application within 60-days. This is a significant advancement for the Alkaid project as the Unit will extend the leases for the Greater Alkaid project area beyond their primary term, and because it provides a clear pathway to production.

Application for Production Unit - Talitha Project

Pantheon has also entered the unitisation application process with the State of Alaska for theTalitha project. Pre-application discussions with the State have been productive and have confirmed Pantheon's confidence that these units will be secured in a timely manner.

Talitha - Resource Upgrade (Kuparuk)

Pantheon is pleased to announce that work is nearing completion for the determination of a resource estimate for the Kuparuk horizon at the 89.2% owned Talitha project. It is anticipated that this work will be finalised and announced to the market over the next 2-3 weeks. In conjunction with this announcement, the management team will be hosting a live webinar available to  all shareholders and interested parties. Details of the webinar will be announced in due course.

This follows the Company's resource estimate at the shallower and independent 'Shelf Margin Deltaic' (Brookian) interval in the Talitha project earlier this year,  which Pantheon estimated to contain 1.8 billion barrels of oil in place (BOIP) and a P50 Technically Recoverable Resource of 483 million barrels of oil (MMBO).

Further significant potential exists in another interval at Talitha, the 'Slope Fan System', which is also a Brookian aged reservoir. The Company will provide a resource estimate for the Slope Fan System once completed.

Farmout update

Pantheon confirms that it is actively engaged with multiple parties who are presently undertaking analysis of the farmout opportunity. Such parties range from National Oil Companies to smaller specialist operators, and accordingly farmout discussions have ranged over the entire Alaskan portfolio to smaller singular projects. Pantheon confirms that its objective is to be drilling in Alaska this coming 2020/21 winter season.

Jay Cheatham, CEO, stated:

"I am incredibly pleased that the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources has deemed our Alkaid Unit application completed. It is subject to the standard 30 day public notice period, but I am confident the unit will pass public scrutiny. The unit as planned will allow Pantheon to drill year-round from the disturbed area along the Dalton Highway, reducing costs significantly as we will drill in the summer with better weather and access versus a winter well on ice. This is a major milestone for our company and the State who are not only our partner as the royalty owner, but also as the technical regulator who must approve our technical and operational plans. This is a large unit at 22,804 acres or almost 36 square miles."

"Despite the obvious disruptions of COVID on the farmout process, we are extremely pleased that discussions are active with multiple parties.  Drilling this coming winter is our objective, and this remains an achievable target if we can conclude a farmout by the end of autumn."

"The potential size and scale of our Alaskan projects, coupled with a modelled breakeven price lower than most fields in the world make this a unique and compelling opportunity for potential farminees. To our knowledge there is no other project with similar characteristics available in the world today. For many years in the USA oil and gas capital flows have been dominated by the unconventional shale plays.  Today, many of these plays are no longer attractive, in contrast to ours."

Pantheon Resources plc	[phone]
Jay Cheatham, CEO
Justin Hondris, Director, Finance and Corporate Development
Arden Partners plc (Nominated Adviser and broker)	[phone]
Paul Shackleton / Daniel Gee-Summons (Corporate Finance)   Simon Johnson (Equity Sales)
Blytheweigh	[phone]
Tim Blythe, Megan Ray

Notes to Editors

Pantheon Resources plc is an AIM listed Oil & Gas exploration and production focused on several large projects located on the North Slope of Alaska ("ANS"), onshore USA. A major differentiator to other ANS projects is its close proximity to transport and pipeline infrastructure. The Group's stated objective is to create material value for its stakeholders through oil exploration, appraisal and development activities in high impact, highly prospective conventional assets, in the USA; a highly established region for energy production with infrastructure, skilled personnel and low sovereign risk. All operations are onshore USA, with drilling costs materially below that of offshore wells.

On the North Slope of Alaska, Pantheon holds working interests of 89.2% - 100% in projects  covered by c.1,000 square miles of proprietary 3D seismic. In January 2020 the Company received an Independent Expert Report certifying a Contingent Resource of 76.5MMBO (million barrels of oil) recoverable on its Greater Alkaid project. In March 2020 Pantheon estimated that the shallowest of the three horizons at its Talitha project was estimated to contain 1.8 billion barrels of oil in place and a P50 Technically Recoverable Resource of 483 MMBO. In East Texas, Pantheon has working interests in several conventional prospects in Tyler & Polk Counties, in an area of abundant regional infrastructure.

For further information on Pantheon Resources plc, see the website at: www.pantheonresources.com. The information contained within this RNS is considered to be inside information prior to its release. Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

 

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