Pantheon completes cleanout of Alkaid 2 well

The AIM-traded firm said the ‘Nordic Calista 2’ rig was used to replace the production tubing, and had now moved off the Alkaid 2 wellhead after completing the sand blockage cleanout.

It said the start of operations was delayed due to poor weather conditions and some electrical and hydraulic issues with the rig, but all issues had now been resolved.

The company said it was currently connecting the Alkaid 2 well to the production facility in preparation for the resumption of the long-term production testing operations, which would restart shortly.

It added that the entire facility would now run on power completely generated with produced gas, without any ancillary equipment.

“I'm excited to resume flow testing soon, with a clean wellbore which will flow directly into our impressive permanent facility, which was designed, procured, built and commissioned in a single season,” said chief executive officer Jay Cheatham.

“We encountered a number of equipment issues which slowed progress over the past few weeks but I am happy to report that all these are now behind us and we can look forward to continuing flow testing.”

Cheatham said that as stated previously, the company was “less than 40%” through the recovery of the frack fluid well cleanup, adding that he was “confident” that Alkaid 2 would ultimately prove a commercial success.

“Whilst we're optimistic, we always remind shareholders that a definitive assessment of ultimate commerciality cannot be made until flow testing operations are completed.”

At 1517 GMT, shares in Pantheon Resources were up 1.95% at 54.85p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.