Santos Ltd and Repsol SA have put onstream the Pikka oil improvement on Alaska’s North Slope.
“At plateau, manufacturing from the asset might be equal to 19 % of Alaska’s present output, delivering the primary important new crude volumes to the state in a long time and serving to to revitalize the business, create jobs and help the native financial system”, Spain’s Repsol, 49 % proprietor of the Pikka Unit, mentioned in a press launch.
Concentrating on the Nanushuk formation, Pikka is predicted to supply as much as 80,000 barrels per day gross. The companions anticipate to succeed in peak manufacturing within the third quarter.
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“Pikka section 1 has initiated manufacturing as a part of the start-up and late-stage commissioning course of that may result in an preliminary ramp-up to twenty,000 bbl/day (gross) over the subsequent few weeks, whereas manufacturing is deliberate to be intermittent as key subsystems are progressively introduced on-line”, operator and 51 % proprietor Santos mentioned individually. “Manufacturing is then anticipated to be maintained at that stage for about one month till water injection is established following the start-up of the Seawater Therapy Plant”.
“At first oil, 28 improvement wells have been drilled, of which 21 have been stimulated and flowed again consistent with pre-drill expectations”, Australia’s Santos added.
“First gross sales income is predicted roughly two to a few months following first oil, with Santos and its companion alternating tanker shipments from the Port of Valdez”.
Santos managing director and chief government Kevin Gallagher mentioned, “Alaska has an enormous runway forward of it which can underpin value-accretive manufacturing development for Santos for the long run”.
“When the Pikka Subject was found, the Nanushuk formation was acknowledged as a brand new era play in a longtime world tremendous basin and we’re proud to be on the forefront of unlocking its useful resource potential”, Gallagher famous.
“We’re already implementing technical drilling enhancements that save time and value, and we are going to proceed to drive improved efficiency into the longer term”, Gallagher added.
Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz mentioned, “The beginning of manufacturing at Pikka will contribute decisively to revitalizing Alaska’s oil sector after a long time of decline and can consolidate the undertaking as an necessary manufacturing hub within the space”.
Earlier this 12 months the companions accomplished the Quokka-1 appraisal nicely, which additional delineates the Nanushuk reservoir.
“The Quokka-1 outcomes exhibit the distinctive high quality of the Nanushuk reservoir and make sure our geological evaluation of this important accumulation”, Gallagher mentioned in an announcement April 8. “Situated strategically to the east of our Pikka section 1 improvement, Quokka represents one other high-return alternative that strengthens our place on the North Slope and extends our improvement runway in Alaska for years to return”.
Drilled to a complete depth of 4,787 ft, Quokka-1 “encountered a high-quality reservoir with roughly 143 ft of internet oil pay within the Nanushuk formation, demonstrating a median porosity of 19 %”, Santos mentioned.
“Following a single-stage fracture stimulation, the nicely achieved a movement price of two,190 barrels of oil per day (bopd)”, it added.
Reservoir sands “correlate” with the Mitquq-1 discovery nicely drilled in 2020 about six miles from Quokka-1, Santos mentioned. Each are throughout the Quokka Unit.
“[F]luid analyses verify the presence of high-quality, light-gravity oil, supporting sturdy nicely efficiency and improved pricing relative to Pikka oil”, Santos added. “Along with further geological knowledge, these outcomes underpin the potential for a two-drill-site improvement with manufacturing capability corresponding to Pikka section 1.
“Santos has commenced improvement planning, together with the initiation of key allowing actions”.
Santos mentioned it was evaluating the reserves potential of the deliberate two-drill-site undertaking. It had declared 177 million barrels of oil equal in 2C contingent assets for the Quokka Unit as of yearend 2025.
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