Pan Andean in funding talks

Aim listed Exploration company Pan Andean said it is in talks with US investors to bankroll the drilling of a well at its Danbury Dome leases in Texas.

Irish chairman John Teeling said : "We are in talks with US investors who want to pay the $3m (€2.3m) drilling costs for the 14,000 deep well. In return Pan Andean would get 20% of any profit."

He added the company is considering putting up 50% of the drilling costs in return for a higher percentage of the profits.

The company also announced today the start of drilling of the exploration well on the company's Vrazel lease, which is part of the Danbury Dome area onshore Texas. The well may contain up to 7 billion cubic feet of gas.

At a cost of $1m, the well will take 12 days to reach the target depth of 9,200 feet and, if successful, can be tied in to existing pipelines within three weeks.

Pan Andean holds a 21% interest in the project with Houston Petroleum the majority partner.