Santos says North Slope Pikka project nearing first oil, 80,000 barrels daily

Santos says its Pikka field near Nuiqsut is in the final stretch before first oil, with phase 1 now almost 90 per cent complete and the company drilling its 21st well. For North Slope communities, the countdown now centers on whether the project can finish commissioning without a slip: activate the gas turbines, bring the processing system fully online, and prove the injection systems that will hold reservoir pressure and support sustained production.

Pete Laliberte, Santos’ vice president for business development, told the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on April 8 that the company expects Pikka to reach a peak rate of about 80,000 barrels a day, with a possible phase-two expansion eventually lifting output to about 120,000 barrels a day. Santos said phase 1 was sanctioned in August 2022 and was expected to start first oil in 2026, but the company has since described startup as imminent. Earlier guidance had pointed to a possible late-2025 acceleration, then shifted back to mid-2026 before the latest update pushed the project closer to opening.

The work behind that milestone has been large and fast. Santos said the development included about $3 billion in construction spending over two major seasons, compressed from a three-year schedule into two years. The project includes about 120 miles of pipeline and was built around a modular approach, with smaller facilities that could be hauled up the Dalton Highway rather than relying on a single large summer sealift. The company said it now has about 400 employees in Alaska, a workforce it describes as bringing thousands of years of combined Alaska experience.

What still has to happen is plain enough. Santos is transitioning from construction to commissioning at the production facility, including turning on the gas turbines. Fuel gas for those turbines is coming by pipeline from Prudhoe Bay, while seawater injection and gas reinjection will be important to maintaining reservoir pressure as production ramps up. Any delay in those commissioning steps would push first oil back, and that would in turn slow the first economic effects for nearby communities and the broader borough.

Pikka sits west of the Kuparuk River Unit and close to Nuiqsut, making it one of the most closely watched developments on Alaska’s North Slope in years. Santos has said the project is supported by the State of Alaska, the North Slope Borough, Kuukpik Corporation and the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, and that it is being developed on state and Alaska Native corporation lands. The company says Pikka was discovered in 2013 and was one of the largest U.S. discoveries at the time.

The borough’s first measurable gains are likely to show up in operating jobs, continued local contracting and the early flow of crude into the regional system once startup begins. DNR and industry forecasts expect North Slope production to rise when Pikka comes online, and Santos is already looking beyond first oil, with a comprehensive 3D seismic survey planned for the Quokka Unit in the 2026-2027 winter season.