Talitha Production Unit & Operational Update

RNS Number : 1503Y

Pantheon Resources PLC

07 September 2020

 

07 September, 2020

Pantheon Resources plc

 Talitha 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:

Talitha Project Production Unit  

Pantheon is pleased to announce that its Alaskan subsidiary, Great Bear Pantheon, has now received notice from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that its application to form the Talitha Production Unit of 44,373 acres is complete and eligible for approval. This follows a similar notice received for the 22,804 acre Alkaid Production Unit announced last week. The DNR has opened a public comment period on the application which closes on October 12, the same date as for the Alkaid application, and the DNR will then make a decision on both applications thereafter. As for the Alkaid project last week, this is a significant advancement for the Talitha project as the Unit will extend the leases for the Talitha project area beyond their primary term, and it provides a clear pathway to production. The Talitha Production Unit includes a commitment to drill one well within 2 years or two wells within 4 years.

Talitha - Resource Estimate Review (Kuparuk)

As recently announced, work is nearing completion for the determination of a resource estimate for the Kuparuk horizon at the 89.2% owned Talitha project.  We anticipate completion of this work and an announcement to the market over the next 2 -3 weeks.  In conjunction with this announcement, the management team will  host a live webinar available to all shareholders and interested parties. We will announce details of the webinar 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.

Talitha - Independent Experts Resource Opinion 

The Company is pleased to announce that the independent experts at Lee Keeling & Associates are close to finalising their work on the Shelf Margin Deltaic horizon,  a Brookian sequence, at the Talitha project. Once completed, Pantheon will publish the conclusions of their independent resource assessment.

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 Company in size to smaller, more specialist groups, and accordingly farmout discussions have ranged over the entire Alaskan portfolio to smaller singular projects. Pantheon confirms its objective is to drill in Alaska this coming 2020/21 winter season if it concludes a farmout transaction by the end of autumn.

Jay Cheatham, CEO, stated:

"I'm incredibly pleased that the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources has deemed our Talitha Unit application completed so soon after our Alkaid application. It's also subject to the standard public notice period, but I'm confident that both the Talitha and Alkaid units will pass public scrutiny. If we can conclude a farmout by the end of Autumn, we plan to drill the first Talitha well from an ice pad this winter, which will test three very significant horizons, all of which are independent of one another; (i) the shallower Shelf Margin Deltaic, (ii) the Slope Fan sequence of the Brookian, and (iii) the deeper Kuparuk formation."

"Today's news is another major milestone for our company. This is a large unit at 44,373 acres or almost 70 square miles and delivers all the acreage needed to develop our Talitha project. The combination of Alkaid and Talitha Units comprise over 105 square miles and complete our project inventory. With the acreage acquired at the last lease sale we have high graded our acreage portfolio.  Today's news is a testament to the hard work of our people and of the team at the DNR. We could not be happier with this news!"

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 3 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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