That's entirely wrong, per Santos.

What was partly sold was most of Santos' working interest in the lease block on the eastern North Slope, which state of Alaska records show is co-owned by Lagniappe Alaska LLC, an Armstrong company, and Santos Alaska subsidiary Oil Search (Alaska).

According to the news story, Santos signed the deal with Alaska offices of U.S. energy major APA Corp. and with Lagniappe Alaska LLC, a subsidiary Armstrong Oil & Gas.

Neither of those companies will comment.

Here is what Santos said about the deal:

Consistent with its Alaska strategy to focus on the Pikka development, Santos announced it will farm-down half of its working interest in 148 exploration leases (more than 270 thousand acres of state of Alaska lands) on the Alaska North Slope in an agreement with APA Alaska LLC1 and Lagniappe Alaska LLC2.

The leases are located on the eastern North Slope with multiple prospects in the late Cretaceous Brookian and Schrader Bluff formations. Under the terms of the farm-down agreement, initial activities during the exploration phase will be undertaken without cost to Santos.

Santos acquired the acreage as part of its merger with Oil Search in 2021. The farm-down is subject to customary government approvals.

Santos Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said he was delighted that Santos has been able to optimize its working interest in its Alaskan acreage in line with the strategy to focus on development of the Pikka project (west of the central North Slope).

"I am pleased we've reached this agreement to farm down our exploration assets in Alaska. This transaction demonstrates the continued level of interest in exploration and development projects in the region, a tier one jurisdiction with supportive stakeholders and prospective undeveloped acreage," Gallagher said.

"We look forward to working with our partners on the North Slope and continuing to build strong relationships together as we continue to develop and optimize our Alaskan business,"

Following execution of the farm down agreement Santos working interest will be 25 percent.

FYI -- In 2021, Apache Corp. moved to a holding company structure under APA Corp., the public company trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

-- KAY CASHMAN

See story in Sept. 24 issue of Petroleum News, available online Thursday, Sept. 21, at www.PetroleumNews.com.