Pantheon Resources plc ("Pantheon" or "the Company"), the AIM-quoted oil and gas exploration company with 89.2% - 100% working interests in several projects on the Alaskan North Slope, and 58% - 100% working interests in projects in Polk & Tyler Counties, East Texas, announces its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2019 together with operational highlights for the half year and the period beyond.
HIGHLIGHTS
Operational
· Completed an equity fundraising raising $10.7m before expenses at £0.18 per share
· Received an Independent Expert Report on the Greater Alkaid project, certifying a Contingent Resource of 76.5 million barrels of oil
· Acquired c.28,000 key leases covering 2 new projects adjacent to existing acreage. Management estimate this new acreage has potential to contain greater than 1 billion barrels of Oil in Place.
· Accessed and reprocessed existing unmerged (and largely unworked) 3D proprietary seismic. Analyses continues, but interpretations to date have exceeded management expectations. This new seismic analysis was at the core of the new acreage acquisitions.
· Strategic refocus with Alaska as the primary asset and East Texas as secondary priority.
· Commenced farmout process for Alaska.
Financial
· Revenues for the 6 months ended 31 Dec, 2019 of c.$78,000 (2018: $356,598)
· Cost of sales for the period $387,571 (2018: $397,744)
· Loss for the period $2.21m (2018: $1.27m). Note that prior year was prior to the Great Bear acquisition.
· Cash on hand 31 December, 2019: $7.37m (2018: $3.98m)
· Cash on hand 18 March, 2019: $6.1m
· Debt: nil (2018: nil)
Jay Cheatham, CEO, said:
" The oil and gas industry is facing serious challenges at the present time with the combined impact uncertain equity markets, the collapse of the oil price and operational constraints from the coronavirus pandemic. For companies with debt, unlike Pantheon, those challenges are further compounded. Oil price collapses are nothing new as I have seen these multiple times over my career, and on every occasion the oil price has recovered. The global oil and gas industry struggles to function at these prices and the economic impact is too severe to sustain these prices. I am confident oil prices will recover, but in the meantime the Board envisage some structural changes which we believe could enhance Pantheon's portfolio of projects, containing a host of discoveries with multi-billion-barrel potential.
"Pantheon is in a fortunate position to have a clean capital structure and no debt. Our projects are low cost 'conventional' oil accumulations in the USA where there is low sovereign risk and an excellent fiscal regime. These factors, combined with the favourable onshore geographic location in a prolific basin, near to export infrastructure, differentiate Pantheon from many industry players. Our experienced Board and Management team is well equipped to meet these challenges and move forward with our projects. The Company has made great strides and our team is confident that the quality of our projects will allow us to overcome the present challenges."