Pantheon upbeat on results from Alaska well

The AIM-traded company said the Talitha #A well had reached its target depth at 10,452 ft. Based on preliminary assessments the well has penetrated all objective formations and found oil in each of them.

Of the four formations, Pantheon is concentrating on the Shelf Margin Deltaic, Basin Floor Fan and Kuparuk reservoirs in Alaska's North Slope. The company bought 66,000 acres in the region in January.

Jay Cheatham, Pantheon's chief executive, said: "Our preliminary analysis suggests that this is a great result. We've often said that any one of the four zones at Talitha could be company makers, and we have three contenders. As always, we must wait until testing is completed before we can make any definitive assessments, but at this time I would say Talitha #A has met or exceeded our expectations."

Pantheon shares rose 18% to 43.7p at 11:42 GMT.