Pantheon Resources plc, the oil and gas company developing the Kodiak and Ahpun projects immediately adjacent to pipeline and transportation infrastructure on Alaska's North Slope, has announced the successful completion of the hydraulic fracture stimulation on the Dubhe-1 well.
As previously announced, the Dubhe-1 lateral was successfully drilled to a total measured depth (MD) of 15 800 ft, logged and cased back to surface providing c. 5200 ft of the wellbore entirely within the SMD-B target reservoir available for stimulation.
Operations commenced on 30 September 2025 with equipment and personnel being mobilised from Alaska, Canada and the US Lower 48 states. The stimulation consisted of 25 individual ‘plug and perforate’ stages of approximately 200 ft each. The programme proceeded in line with expectation with full placement of both water and sand. There were no spills or safety incidents of any kind during this operation. This represents an excellent result given Pantheon’s limited prior experience treating this specific reservoir and utilising a full set of new contractors, including some that had not previously worked in Alaska.
Over the coming weeks, the plugs set in the wellbore to separate the fracture simulation stages will be drilled out with coiled tubing, and 2-7/8 in. production tubing will be installed. The well will then be connected to a temporary well testing system for the commencement of flow testing operations. The company expects to release further information, in line with its regulatory requirements, as the programme proceeds.
Erich Krumanocker, Chief Development Officer, said: "We are extremely pleased with the success of the operations so far. The team did an excellent job executing this large and intricate operation safely and efficiently. The stimulation was performed as planned, increasing our confidence in achieving the objectives of the forthcoming flow testing programme.”