14 June 2024
Pantheon Resources
plc
Quarterly Repayment of
Unsecured Convertible Bonds, Private Placement and
Funding Strategy Update
Pantheon Resources plc (AIM:
PANR) ("Pantheon" or the "Company"), the oil and gas company with a
100% working interest in the Kodiak and Ahpun fields is
pleased to provide the following update:
Highlights:
·
Quarterly Bond
Payment
o The
Company has elected to make the quarterly principal and interest
payment of US$2.72 million through the issuance of
7,471,153 new ordinary shares (the "Bond Shares")
at a price of US$0.364 per
share.
·
Private
Placement
o Private placement of approximately US$3.36 million to two
existing long term shareholders through the issuance of
9,230,080 new ordinary shares (the "Placement
Shares") at a price
of US$0.364 per share to provide additional working
capital, (the "Placement"), and to increase the Company's
flexibility in advancing funding discussions per the overall
strategy outlined below.
·
Funding
Strategy
o Long term funding
- the Gas Sales Precedent Agreement
("GSPA"), executed on 5 June 2024 opens a potential
path to funding of post
Ahpun FID expenditures without further equity dilution.
o Interim
funding - the Company estimates
the funding up until the point of Ahpun FID (referred to above) is
in the range US$60 - US$85 million. This includes costs required to
complete the Environmental Impact Statement ("EIS"), G&A, US
IPO preparation costs, hot-tap into the TAPS pipeline, as well as
the cost of drilling and testing the planned Megrez-1 well to
assess the Ahpun East project area which the Company estimates to
contain a Prospective Resource of c. 609 million barrels ("mmbbl")
of marketable liquids. At the upper end of the range this
would also include the cost of drilling and testing an additional
Ahpun appraisal well if required.
o Funding options being presently under consideration include a
suite of alternatives including farm-out, equity, debt, hybrid and
a US listing targeted for 2025. The Company believes a US listing
is an important step into providing greater access to the US
institutional investment community, and to enhance market depth and
liquidity in the Company's shares.
·
Webinar
Planned
o Update on corporate strategy following will be provided to
shareholder in a webinar later this month. Precise timing of the
webinar to be confirmed in due course.
David Hobbs, Executive Chairman,
said: "A year ago,
Pantheon
embarked on a refreshed strategy to drive progress towards
financial self-sufficiency as quickly as possible and at minimum
possible value dilution to existing shareholders. The progress of
the past twelve months - independently certifying the contingent
resource estimates and securing a significant agreement for the
potential long term gas supply with the State of Alaska - have the
potential to significantly de-risk the Company, and could at the
same time, shrink the remaining funding requirement to manageable
proportions."
Quarterly Convertible Bond Payment
Pantheon has elected to satisfy (i)
the quarterly principal repayment of US$2.45 million and
(ii) the quarterly interest payment of US$0.27
million (collectively, the "Quarterly Repayment") in respect
of its senior unsecured convertible bonds due December
2026 (the "Convertible Bonds"), through the issuance of new
shares. Pursuant to the terms of the Convertible Bond agreement, a
total of 7,471,153 Bond Shares will be issued in settlement of this
Quarterly Repayment.
After settlement of the Quarterly
Repayment, the principal remaining under the Convertible Bond
will be reduced by US$2.45 million to US$24.5
million.
Private Placement and Additional Liquidity
In addition to the Convertible Bond
repayment, the Company is issuing 9,230,080 Placement Shares to
existing supportive shareholders to further bolster its cash
position, on the same terms as the Convertible Bond.
Admission and Total Voting Rights
In aggregate, 16,701,233 Bond Shares
and Placement Shares (together the "New Ordinary Shares") will be
issued. Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange
for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM
at 8.00 a.m. on or around 20 June 2024. The New Ordinary
Shares will represent 1.74 per cent of the outstanding issued
ordinary share capital of the Company upon Admission.
Immediately following Admission, the
Company's issued share capital will be 960,919,660 Ordinary Shares,
with each share carrying the right to one vote. The Company does
not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. The total voting rights
figure immediately following Admission, of 960,919,660 may be used
by shareholders (and others with notification obligations) as the
denominator for the calculations by which they will determine
whether they are required to notify their interest in, or a change
to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and
Transparency Rules.
Further information, please contact:
Pantheon Resources plc
David Hobbs, Executive
Chairman
Jay Cheatham, Chief Executive
Officer
Justin Hondris, Director, Finance
and Corporate Development
|
+44 20
7484 5361
|
|
|
|
|
Canaccord Genuity plc (Nominated Adviser and
broker)
Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor
James Asensio
Ana Ercegovic
|
+44 20
7523 8000
|
|
|
BlytheRay
|
+44 20
7138 3204
|
Tim Blythe, Megan Ray, Matthew
Bowld
|
|
The information contained within
this Announcement is deemed by Pantheon Resources PLC to constitute
inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR").
Notes to Editors
Pantheon Resources plc is an AIM
listed Oil & Gas company focused on developing its 100% owned
Ahpun and Kodiak fields located on State of Alaska land on the
North Slope, onshore USA. Independently certified best estimate
contingent recoverable resources attributable to these projects
currently total more than 1.5 billion barrels of ANS crude and 6.5
Tcf of associated natural gas.
The Company owns 100% working
interest in c. 193,000 acres. In December 2023, Pantheon was the
successful bidder for an additional 66,240 acres with very
significant resource potential to the west, reflected in NSAI's
Kodiak IER and prospective resources to the east, contiguous with
the Ahpun project. Following the issue of the new leases, which are
expected to be formally awarded in summer 2024 upon payment of the
balance of the application monies, the Company will have a 100%
working interest in c. 259,000 acres.
Pantheon's stated objective is to
demonstrate sustainable market recognition of a value of $5-$10/bbl
of recoverable resources by end of 2028. This is based on bringing
the Ahpun field forward to FID and producing into the TAPS main oil
line (ANS crude) by the end of 2028. The Gas Sales Precedent
Agreement signed with AGDC foresees natural gas produced into the
planned 807-mile pipeline from the North Slope to Southcentral
Alaska during 2029. When the company achieves financial
self-sufficiency, it will apply the resultant cashflows to support
the FID on the Kodiak field planned, subject to regulatory
approvals, by the end of 2028.
A major differentiator to other ANS
projects is the close proximity to existing roads and pipelines
which offers a significant competitive advantage to Pantheon,
allowing for materially lower infrastructure costs and the ability
to support the development with a significantly lower pre-cashflow
funding requirement than is typical in Alaska. Furthermore, the low
CO2 content of the associated gas allows export into the planned
natural gas pipeline from the North Slope to Southcentral Alaska
without significant pre-treatment.
The Company's project portfolio has
been endorsed by world renowned experts. Netherland, Sewell &
Associates estimate a 2C contingent recoverable resource in the
Kodiak project that total 1,208 mmbbl of ANS crude and 5,396 bcf of
natural gas. Cawley Gillespie & Associates estimate 2C
contingent recoverable resources for Ahpun's western topset
horizons at 282 mmbbl of ANS crude and 803 bcf of natural gas. Lee
Keeling & Associates estimated possible reserves and 2C
contingent recoverable resources totalling 79 mmbbl of ANS crude
and 424 bcf.