Pantheon Resources PLC (AIM:PANR, OTC:PTHRF) has release what it called ‘another excellent result’ from the Talitha A well in Alaska, meanwhile, the hotly anticipated flow test of the Theta West well has been delayed due to a third-party error.
The latest Talitha well test saw the Slope Fan System (SFS), a secondary target, flow oil at a sustained rate of 32 barrels of oil per day from a total of 10 feet of vertical intersections of the reservoir.
The result is said to be highly encouraging given that production wells on the Alaska North Slope are typically drilled horizontally and would therefore see materially higher flow rates than a vertical well.
It follows a similarly encouraging result from the Talitha well earlier this month – in which the Basin Floor Fan (BFF) reservoir flowed an averaged of 73 bopd – also from a vertical section.
Pantheon noted that it will now seek to provide an estimate of resource and recoverable oil in due course, once analysis is completed and the Talitha test results are fully integrated into resource assessments and future appraisal plans.
"Once again we have an excellent result from the Talitha A testing. Similar to the Basin Floor Fan (BFF), we had two goals in testing the SFS: (i) to prove we had moveable oil, and (ii) to prove high quality oil. We have achieved both of these,” said chief executive Jay Cheatham said.
"We exceeded original expectations with the flow rates achieved from these two sand bodies.
“We now believe the Slope Fan extends east near the Dalton Highway giving us additional potential resource developable from gravel along the highway.”
Bob Rosenthal, Pantheon’s technical director, called it a “fantastic result”.
He commented: “As we do further work, we expect an upgrade to our resource numbers for these results.
“Encouragingly, our testing to date suggests that we could be in the sweet spot for finding light oil on the North Slope.
“So far, we have tested light oil in four hydrocarbon accumulations: (i) the Alkaid (deep) anomaly, (ii) the Lower BFF, (iii) the Slope Fan System upper lobe, and (iv) the Lower Slope lower lobe."
Theta West delay
Pantheon, in this morning’s statement, told investors that an error by a third-party service company contractor working on the rig floor has delayed testing operations.
A cement stage tool was improperly configured, placing cement inside the casing rather than outside casing as intended, it noted.
The company said it will undertake work to remove cement from within the casing, prior to performing a remedial cement squeeze job. It expects this work to be completed over the course of this week prior to conducting flow testing operations of the Basin Floor Fan.
“The issue has cost time and money, however, the company does not believe this has compromised the reservoir potential in any way,” Pantheon noted.
Jay Cheatham added: “The issue encountered at Theta West typify some of the frustrations in drilling and completions; thankfully we had a contingency built into our planning."