LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Pantheon Resources announced the appointment of Max Easley as its new chief executive officer on Thursday, effective 28 February.
The AIM-traded firm said Easley, a seasoned energy executive with more than three decades of experience, would replace Jay Cheatham, who would transition to a non-executive director role during a handover period.

It noted Easley's background in upstream operations, including leadership roles at BP, Apache Corporation, and Petronas Canada.

His appointment was part of Pantheon's broader efforts to strengthen its governance as it considered a potential US listing.

As part of his compensation, Easley would receive a one-time grant of 400,000 restricted stock units under Pantheon's employee share ownership plan, along with five million options subject to various vesting criteria.

Additional details on the awards would be provided following the release of the company's interim financial results later in the quarter.

"We are delighted to welcome Max Easley as our new chief executive officer and as a member of the board of directors," said executive chairman David Hobbs.

"Pantheon will benefit from his more than 30 years of experience in the oil and natural gas industry, particularly his experience on Alaska's North Slope and successful Permian and Montney developments.

"This deep industry expertise, coupled with his strategic judgment and performance track record make him the ideal candidate to execute upon Pantheon's strategy."

Hobbs said that under Easley's leadership, the company would be "well-positioned" to shift from an exploration to a development and production company.

"I also want to express my personal gratitude to Jay Cheatham, who was a key member of the search committee.

"Jay has been a well-respected colleague, friend and key to the company's successes to-date."

In a separate announcement, Pantheon also confirmed plans to issue between $30.5m and $35m in senior convertible bonds due March 2028.

The bonds, carrying a 5% annual coupon, would be issued to Sun Hung Kai & Co and its affiliates - a Hong Kong-based financial institution.

It said the bonds would have an initial conversion price of 86.75 cents, and would be used to refinance outstanding debt and fund operations.

Pantheon said it intended to use $12.25m from the proceeds to repay remaining principal on its existing $55m senior unsecured convertible bonds due 2026.

The remaining funds would support corporate activities, including additional flow testing of the Megrez-1 well and continued marketing efforts to attract strategic investment.

It emphasised its ongoing focus on advancing the Ahpun and Kodiak projects, with Megrez-1 expected to provide critical data to accelerate development.

An update on flow testing was anticipated in the coming weeks.

"This agreement removes speculation around the issuance of shares for quarterly interest and amortisation of the existing convertible bond, providing three years during which Pantheon's ultimate development financing strategy can be implemented," David Hobbs added.

"It provides flexible long-term capital that we can retire after a year, if the company continues successful execution of its core strategy of bringing its discovered resources into production.

"We are delighted to begin this relationship with Sun Hung Kai and to work together to ensure that Pantheon has the liquidity to press ahead with the work to progress Ahpun Field's final investment decision."

At 1128 GMT, shares in Pantheon Resources were up 7.04% at 67.97p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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