Oil giant Santos has reported one of its largest global projects is on track to produce up to 80,000 barrels per day this year.
Santos reports operations at the Pikka Phase 1 oil project on Alaska’s North Slope are now online with the first production wells delivering gross production of approximately 20,000 bbl/day.
“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 Q32026.,” it noted in a statement to the ASX.
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 11in the Pikka Unit.
Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said Pikka Phase 1 marked a significant step on the path to plateau production later this year.
“The first production wells are now online and delivering continuous production,” Gallagher said. “We will commence pressure support through seawater injection and bring more wells online progressively, building production toward our plateau target of approximately 80,000 barrels per day in the third quarter of this year.”
“Pikka is a high-quality, low-cost oil development with strong economics and long reserves life benefiting not only Santos and its joint venture partner Repsol, but also key stakeholders, including the State of Alaska and Alaska Native Corporations.”