Pantheon Resources PLC (AIM:PANR, OTC:PTHRF, FRA:P3K) (AIM:PANR) chief executive Jay Cheatham has told investors that a better oil market has put the company in a stronger position to get funded for its plans for an active winter exploration programme in Alaska.
Talks continue over a potential farm-out transaction to sell a stake in the company’s Alaskan assets in return for sufficient funding for drilling and testing activity.
Either a farm-out or another form of funding is needed if the planned exploration programme is to go ahead to follow up the Talitha discovery well. Pantheon’s plans for the winter programme include testing the Talitha #A well along with the drilling of at least one further new well (either the Alkaid or Theta West targets).
Alkaid is a development opportunity that could allow a quick turnaround into revenue-generating production, using a low-cost modular production system – and this option is described by Pantheon as highly attractive at current oil prices.
On the other hand, the Theta West exploration target is seen as “a globally significant play which offers tremendous potential for value creation”.
“We remain focussed on finding a suitable partner to farm-in to one or more of our projects,” Cheatham said in a statement.
“We have discussed many times that we require this farm-out partner or to otherwise fund the company ahead of a winter 21/22 drilling programme, and we have been focused on this goal since April this year.
“The oil market is in a far better place right now than any of us could have envisioned, which puts the company in a stronger position during these efforts."
Earlier this year, Pantheon announced estimates for 1.41bn barrels of potentially recoverable oil resources in Theta West and 404mln barrels for the SMD-B zone seen in the Talitha well.
Management considers these estimates can be characterised as contingent resources.
Investor webinar, August 25
As the company seeks to communicate to investors its plans in Alaska, it has arranged an investor webinar in which it intends to convey expert insights into both the assets and the technologies that are being used to unearth their potential.
The webinar will cover the recent work and understanding of Theta West and the Shelf Margin Deltaic sections which were encountered in the Talitha #A discovery well.
Pantheon used technologies and services provided by consultant Baker Hughes in the analysis of Talitha #A discovery well and, as part of the company’s plan to give investors technical insights into the project, it will host as a guest presenter Mike Smith, who invented a specialist technology used in the programme.
It highlighted that Smith was personally involved in the analysis of Talitha #A.
Cheatham commented: "I encourage all shareholders to take the time to listen to this webinar. Necessarily it will contain a lot of technical information; we believe it is crucial to demonstrate the science behind these enormous resource estimates to enable a greater 'believability' in our story.
“We will, however, be sure to pay special attention to ensure the key message is understood by all. I am also pleased that Mike Smith, the President and Founder of AHS, and leading expert on VAS, has offered to present to our shareholders.
“It is rare for shareholders to gain this type of expert access, and it should give shareholders immense comfort that Talitha #A has yielded special results."