LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Pantheon Resources announced on Monday that it will start flow testing at its Megrez-1 well on Alaska's North Slope before the end of March, targeting six of the seven identified pay zones.
The AIM-traded firm said the testing programme aimed to refine estimates of in-place and recoverable resources by assessing fluid composition and reservoir properties.

It said it expected flow rates to range between 200 and 2,000 barrels per day depending on reservoir quality, with the deepest tested horizon, Topset 1, likely at the lower end of the range and shallower zones potentially reaching the upper end.

The tests would prioritise data quality over initial production rates to support future development planning.

Pantheon said the Megrez-1 well was drilled at a 45-degree angle to penetrate multiple horizons, with a flow programme beginning at the Upper Schrader Bluff's Topset 1 and progressing to the shallowest zone, the Lower Sagavanirktok 3.

Deeper zones would require hydraulic stimulation, while shallower formations, which showed higher permeability, were expected to flow more readily.

Results from each horizon would be released on completion of testing, a process expected to take up to four months.

Pantheon said it was planning to develop deeper horizons with long lateral wells and multi-stage completions, consistent with standard industry practice and the strategy for its Ahpun West and Kodiak developments.

Shallower zones with superior reservoir quality may follow a development approach similar to Willow or Pikka but will benefit from shared infrastructure with Ahpun West.

The company has posted data on analogous offset wells on the North Slope to its website, with aggregate test flows expected to align with production rates from other wells targeting Brookian formations in the region.

"Successful flow tests in the deeper zones would demonstrate their suitability to incorporate additional future 10,000-foot lateral completions of wells from the Megrez Pad into the overall Ahpun development plan, utilising the same processing infrastructure to deliver higher economic returns," said chief executive officer Max Easley.

"Anticipated results from the shallower horizons would, if successful, support a truly conventional development, analogous to the Pikka and Willow fields - utilising secondary and tertiary recovery techniques."

At 1050 GMT, shares in Pantheon Resources were up 8.47% at 64p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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