Pikka Oil Project in Alaska Reaches Continuous Production
Santos Ltd said Tuesday it has reached continuous production at the Pikka oil development on Alaska's North Slope, which started up earlier this year.
The first production wells are now delivering 20,000 barrels per day gross. "Santos will commence pressure support through seawater injection over the next few weeks before bringing additional production wells online, with plateau production of approximately 80,000 bbl/day targeted during Q3 2026", the Australian company said in a press release.
"Pikka Phase 1 brings ~400 million barrels of gross 2P reserves into production, with an additional ~600 million barrels of gross 2C resource underpinning staged development beyond Phase 1 in the Pikka Unit".
Chief executive Kevin Gallagher said, “Pikka is a high-quality, low-cost oil development with strong economics and long reserves life".
Pikka targets the Nanushuk formation. Earlier this year Santos and partner Repsol SA completed the Quokka-1 appraisal well, which further delineates Nanushuk.
"The Quokka-1 results demonstrate the exceptional quality of the Nanushuk reservoir and confirm our geological assessment of this significant accumulation", Gallagher said in a statement April 8. "Located strategically to the east of our Pikka phase 1 development, Quokka represents another high-return opportunity that strengthens our position on the North Slope and extends our development runway in Alaska for years to come".
Drilled to a total depth of 4,787 feet, Quokka-1 "encountered a high-quality reservoir with approximately 143 feet of net oil pay in the Nanushuk formation, demonstrating an average porosity of 19 percent", Santos said.
"Following a single-stage fracture stimulation, the well achieved a flow rate of 2,190 barrels of oil per day (bopd)", it added.
Reservoir sands "correlate" with the Mitquq-1 discovery well drilled in 2020 about six miles from Quokka-1, according to Santos. Both are within the Quokka Unit.
"[F]luid analyses confirm the presence of high-quality, light-gravity oil, supporting strong well performance and improved pricing relative to Pikka oil", Santos said. "Together with additional geological data, these results underpin the potential for a two-drill-site development with production capacity comparable to Pikka phase 1.
"Santos has commenced development planning, including the initiation of key permitting activities".
Santos said it was evaluating potential volumes in the planned two-drill-site project. As of yearend 2025 the Quokka Unit had 177 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2C contingent resources, according to Santos.
Santos operates both the Pikka and Quokka unitized areas. Spain's Repsol owns the remaining 49 percent.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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