Pantheon Resources upbeat on well report from Baker Hughes

Alaska North Slope-focussed Pantheon Resources announced the details of an independent report into its Theta West 1 well on Tuesday, compiled by Baker Hughes AHS.

The AIM-traded firm said the report showed the well drilled a “world-class petroleum system” consisting of a 1,360-foot thick continuous column of oil-bearing cuttings.

It said the actual length of the oil column was “unquestionably greater” than 1,360 feet, as the base of the analysed cutting’s oil column was the total depth of the well, and the oil in the cuttings showed no sign of tapering off.

Baker Hughes said the oil was of “high quality'', at 37 to 39 degrees API gravity, with “abundant” good-quality reservoirs.

An ultimate non-permeable oil seal occurred at 7,070 feet, with oil-bearing cuttings not observed above that level, and oil analysed in every cuttings sample both sealed-at-well and lab-loaded below 7,070 feet to total depth.

It said a seal within the oil-rich zone occurred at 7,480 feet separating a shallower from a deeper compartment based on different oil compositions above and below 7,480 feet.

Elevated helium was observed, in part confirming Theta West's “excellent” seals.

It said the results were in “complete accord” and supportive of the previous analyses of cuttings from Great Bear Pantheon Talitha A well, as well as the study of Shelf Margin Deltaic cuttings' samples from the Talitha A, Pipeline, Alkaid, Merak, and Alcor wells.

“Following the successful completion of horizontal drilling operations at our Alkaid 1 well last week, we are pleased to present shareholders the results of the volatile analysis service (VAS) work on Theta West 1,” said chief executive officer Jay Cheatham.

“This is a great endorsement from AHS, and one of several technical tools we employ.”

Cheatham said ultimate commerciality on the company’s projects would be determined by flow testing.

“AHS refers to our 100% owned discovery as ‘world class’.

“As previously announced, the company estimates the project contains over 17 billion barrels of oil in place with a recoverable resource of over 1.7 billion barrels of oil, based on a 10% recovery factor.”

At 0949 BST, shares in Pantheon Resources were up 3.08% at 134p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.