Santos Starts Oil Production From Alaska’s Pikka Project
Santos has started oil production from the Pikka phase 1, with flows established through the LACT meter into the Pikka sales oil line. The project is expected to ramp up to 20,000 barrels per day gross over the next few weeks before reaching a planned plateau of 80,000 bpd gross in the third quarter.
Santos operates the Pikka Unit with a 51% stake, while Repsol holds the remaining 49%.
The company said production will be intermittent during late-stage commissioning as key subsystems come online. Output is expected to hold at around 20,000 bpd for about a month until water injection begins following the start-up of the Seawater Treatment Plant.
At first oil, 28 development wells had been drilled, with 21 stimulated and flowed back in line with expectations. First sales revenue is expected two to three months after first oil, with Santos and Repsol alternating tanker shipments from the Port of Valdez.
Pikka is a key growth project for Santos and one of the most closely watched new oil developments on Alaska’s North Slope. The project targets the Nanushuk reservoir, which Santos described as a new-generation play within an established global oil basin.
The start-up also strengthens Santos’ longer-term Alaska growth story. The company pointed to its Quokka appraisal results earlier this year and said it had reported 177 million barrels of oil equivalent in net 2C contingent resources for the Quokka Unit at the end of 2025. Santos said future development of the Quokka and Horseshoe units could support further North Slope production growth, subject to appraisal, planning, and final investment decisions.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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