Pantheon Resources – material oversubscription of fresh funds for Alaskan North Slope oil group to re-enter the transformational Alkaid #2 well
Late last night the £134m capitalised Pantheon Resources (LON:PANR) announced that it intended to raise a minimum of $10.5m by way of a placing and conditional subscriptions of new shares at 17p each.
This morning the company has reported that its issue was massively oversubscribed and several existing and new institutional investors have participated to raise some $22m in total, by way of a Placing of 104,179,027 new shares in the company.
Interests
The AIM-quoted oil and gas company with 100% working interests in certain projects located adjacent to transportation and pipeline infrastructure on the Alaska North Slope.
Its primary assets are the Greater Alkaid project that covers 22,804 acres located in Alaska; and the Talitha project covering an area of approximately 44,463 acres located in North America.
Use of funds
The proceeds will be used to support significant, independent value drivers in the near term, which could be material for Pantheon. The next few months are expected to be exciting for the company.
The low cost of some $3.3m Shelf Margin Deltaic test in the shallow section of the Alkaid #2 well is a significant event, which will seek to prove the productive potential of the discovered oil within this zone, and which the group believes has superior reservoir qualities than the deeper, Alkaid zone recently tested.
Proving oil in a structure capable of holding over 400m barrels of recoverable oil adjacent to the Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Pipeline could have significant commercial implications.
This will not be a long-term production test, as was the deeper Alkaid zone, but is designed to gather reservoir data and test the SMD reservoir oil quality and productivity so this data can be used for planning future commercial operations.
Management comment
CEO Jay Cheatham stated that:
"I'm pleased the market has rewarded our efforts in maturing this significant asset on the North Slope.
The offering was materially oversubscribed, allowing Pantheon to raise approximately $22m in a difficult market at a small discount to yesterday's close.
In particular we are delighted to welcome to our shareholder list some well-known investing institutions; some for the first time and some as they return.
The funds raised will be applied to a number of catalysts over the short to medium-term which we will discuss in detail in a webinar planned for June.
We will also update the market on the recent reservoir analysis of the Alkaid #2 horizontal production test, preliminary work on the updip Theta West acreage awarded in last year's State lease sale and the ongoing work by SLB and NSAI."
Additional use of funds
The fresh funds will also be used to finance two separate Independent Expert Reports from Netherland Sewell and Associates on the company's Theta West and Alkaid projects, the preparation of dynamic models and field development modelling by SLB, to complete the purchase of additional Alaskan North Slope acreage, and also provide general working capital for the group.
Analysts Opinion
Before this raise WH Ireland had put a 92p ‘fair value’ estimate on the group’s shares.
Conclusion
This fundraise is a wonderful pat on the back for the Pantheon Resources team and reflect the City’s support for its endeavours in Alaska, especially so at a time defined by many brokers as being extremely difficult to raise funds.
The group’s shares have responded to this excellent news by being marked down to the 17p funding price before bouncing higher to 18p in busy early dealings.
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