12 December, 2019
Pantheon Resources plc
Successful acquisition of key leases in State of Alaska's North Slope Areawide Lease sale
Pantheon Resources plc ("Pantheon" or "the Company"), the AIM-quoted oil and gas exploration company with working interests in several conventional project areas in Tyler and Polk Counties, onshore East Texas, and onshore North Slope of Alaska, is pleased to announce:
Successful bidding at State of Alaska's North Slope Areawide Lease sale
Pantheon is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of approximately 27,840 acres in the State of Alaska's North Slope Areawide Lease sale, held overnight in Alaska. The new leases are strategically positioned in two areas contiguous or adjacent to our current acreage on our northern and southwestern boundaries. Pantheon had a competitive advantage in bidding for this acreage given it owns the proprietary 3D seismic which covers the leases, and which was not accessible by any 3rd parties. These acreage additions are a direct result of detailed technical work completed by Pantheon and its consultants at eSeis over recent months, which includes comprehensive Hi-Tech Geophysical evaluation of the area. Management believe the new acreage offers significant potential for the Company.
Pantheon's winning bids averaged $30.50 per acre, significantly lower than the $276.95 per acre winning bids recorded on other acreage in the sales. When the leases are officially awarded by the State of Alaska, estimated to be in 6 to 12 months, they will come with a 10-year initial term, an annual rental of $10 per acre for the first seven years, and a royalty rate of either 12% (8 leases) or 16.67% (9 leases). These additions will also allow us to continue to strategically high grade our acreage based on the very recent technical work completed by our team.
Overall on this day, the State of Alaska and federal Bureau of Land Management held three successful lease sales that in the aggregate brought in over $19 million in bonus bids. These lease sales come after the announcements of major discoveries over the past few years on the North Slope in two new play types.
Bob Rosenthal, Technical Director stated:
"Acquiring these leases was a very successful outcome for Pantheon. Our team has spent close to a decade working this acreage, enhanced recently with advanced geophysical evaluation which was only available to Pantheon because of its proprietary 3D seismic over that area which was unavailable to any other players, hence the attractive acquisition price. Very importantly, the acreage is in very close proximity to the established export infrastructure.
"The geological plays identified by Pantheon are all stratigraphic Brookian targets, based on known oil in 3 wells and are close to being matured to drilling status. These Brookian plays are in the same formations that have been so successful in discovering oil on the North Slope and are very large. The forward program on these leases will be to appraise these projects by drilling and moving to exploit these resources."
Jay Cheatham, CEO added:
"Having watched the evolution of these plays as the combination of the 3D seismic and the petrophysical analysis developed, I'm ecstatic to have been the successful bidder on this acreage where we clearly had a major advantage. The geographic location both in terms of the geological plays we are chasing in contiguous acres and in relation to the export infrastructure were important considerations. I look forward to working with the State of Alaska on these leases. This new acreage adds significant and material potential to our prospect inventory and will allow Pantheon to continue to strategically high grade our lease position going forward"
-ENDS-
Further information:
Pantheon Resources plc |
+44 20 7484 5361 |
Jay Cheatham, CEO |
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Justin Hondris, Director, Finance and Corporate Development |
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Arden Partners plc (Nominated Adviser and broker) |
+44 20 7614 5900 |
Paul Shackleton Daniel Gee-Summons |
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Blytheweigh Financial PR & IR |
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Megan Ray |
+44 20 7138 3204 |
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.
In accordance with the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies - June 2009, the information contained in this announcement has been reviewed and signed off by Jay Cheatham, a qualified Chemical & Petroleum Engineer, who has over 40 years' relevant experience within the sector.
Cautionary Statement: The estimated quantities of petroleum that may be potentially recovered by the application of a future development project relate to undiscovered accumulations. These estimates have both an associated risk of discovery and a risk of development. Further exploration, appraisal and evaluation are required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially movable hydrocarbons. The announcement contains management estimates of possible valuations based on certain assumptions based upon information available at the time of writing and relating to a future period and, accordingly, they are not guaranteed and are subject to change. Estimates and assumptions underlying any such valuations are inherently uncertain, are based on events that have not taken place and are subject to economic, competitive and other uncertainties and contingencies beyond the Company's control.
