(SitNews) - Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy is praising this week's announcement by Santos and Repsol to move forward with Phase 1 of the Pikka project on Alaska’s North Slope. Located in the Nanushuk oil formation on state leases, the Pikka unit contains an estimated 768 million barrels of recoverable oil. Oil Search will invest $2.6 billion to bring the field into production by 2026 which will create 2,600 jobs during construction, and 500 jobs once oil production begins.

“This announcement will continue the renaissance on Alaska’s North Slope,” said Governor Dunleavy. “Alaska has a rich and successful oil and natural gas history, and we welcome the family wage jobs the Pikka project will bring, and the 80,000 barrels of new oil it will send down the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System each day. Americans are paying sky high energy prices right now – but it doesn’t have to be that way. Alaska has the resources and environmental safeguards in place to meet America’s energy needs today and for decades to come.”

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (both R-Alaska) issued the following statements welcoming Santos’ announcement that it has approved a $2.6 billion investment for Phase 1 of its Pikka project on Alaska’s North Slope.

“This is great news for Alaska that will strengthen our economy for a long time to come,” Murkowski said. “The Pikka project will help refill the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System while creating good jobs for Alaskans and bolstering our nation’s energy security. I appreciate the approach that Santos and their partner, Repsol, have taken to advance this project, their strong collaboration with local entities and communities, and their commitment to producing this resource with net-zero emissions from the project itself.”    

“It’s exciting to see this project, which has been in the works since I was serving as Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources Commissioner, finally come to fruition,” Senator Sullivan said. 

“Today’s [August 16, 2022] announcement is great news for energy security, national security, and for economic and community development, including thousands of jobs for Alaskans, in our state where we have the highest environmental standards in the world,” said Sullivan.

“This announcement opens a major new chapter for the North Slope, and confirms a bright future for natural resource development in Alaska,” said Department of Revenue Commissioner Lucinda Mahoney. 

Mahoney said, “These two companies have demonstrated that a major new hydrocarbon project in Alaska can be done with community support, full compliance with Alaska’s rigorous environmental standards, and an internationally competitive low emissions profile. This development will bring billions of dollars to the State in royalties, significant new throughput volumes to the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, and an economic boom to the people of Alaska. We believe this investment will yield real value to Alaska for many years ahead and thank both Oil Search/Santos and Repsol for their commitment to Alaskans.

The Pikka project is projected to produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day by 2026. Santos owns 51 percent of the project and Repsol holds a 49 percent stake. Pikka will create an estimated 2,600 construction jobs and 500 permanent jobs, furthering the companies’ strong commitment to Alaska. At present, about 98 percent of the employees for Santos’ U.S. subsidiary, Oil Search Alaska, live in Alaska. 

Santos will prioritize Alaskan businesses and workers for the Pikka project. Around 75% of the projected budget will be with companies operating in Alaska, and contracts are expected to be awarded this week.

Related News:

Santos announces Pikka FID and net-zero project plans

Source of News:

Office of Gov. Michael Dunleavy
www.gov.alaska.gov

Office of US Sen. Lisa Murkowski
www.murkowski.senate.gov

Office of US Sen. Dan Sullivan
www.sullivan.senate.go

 

 

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2022
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews are considered protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper freelance writers and subscription services. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.