Pikka 2026 POD approved
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Kay Cashman Petroleum News
On Dec. 24 the Alaska Department of Natural Resources' Division of Oil and Gas approved the 2026 Pikka Unit Plan of Development, or POD.
On Oct. 31, the Division of Oil and Gas had received the proposed 2026 Pikka Unit POD from Oil Search (Alaska) LLC, a subsidiary of Santos Ltd. and operator of the Alaska North Slope Pikka Unit, or PKU.
Oil Search provided a technical review to the Division on Dec. 16, 2025.
Oil Search is ahead of the curve at Pikka. In late August, Managing Director and CEO Kevin Gallagher announced the Pikka Phase 1 development was "progressing well" and that the company has brought first oil guidance forward from mid-2026 to first quarter 2026, with the ramp-up to plateau of 80,000 barrels per day expected in the second quarter 2026.
Unit history The PKU is comprised of both State of Alaska oil and gas leases and Arctic Slope Regional Corporation oil and gas leases. The PKU was formed June 18, 2015 and was expanded for the first time in March 2018 and again on Sept. 10, 2024. The unit consists of a total of 97,385.47 acres.
On Dec. 31, 2024, the term of the PKU was extended until June 1, 2030. While the unit does not have sustained production, the Nanushuk Participating Area, or PA, was approved by the Division director on Oct. 23, 2025.
In the 2025 POD period, Oil Search committed to continuing the Phase 1 scope of PKU development.
This included the following facilities and infrastructure work: installation of the NPF module, installation of remaining pipelines along all pipeline routes, continued work on the grind and inject and seawater treatment plant (STP) facilities, import and export pipeline work to enable oil sales, seawater import for pressure maintenance, and fuel gas import, and completion of work on the Nanushuk Operation Pad.
Additionally, Oil Search committed to drilling between six to eight development wells within the PKU.
During the 2025 POD period, Oil Search completed most of its facility projects. Work is still on-going on the STP and tie ins for production to commence in the 2026 POD period. Additionally, by the end of the POD period, Oil Search will have drilled and completed nine wells.
2026 POD During the 2026 POD period, which will run from Feb. 1 through Jan. 31, 2027, Oil Search committed to complete all remaining facility and infrastructure work to commence production from the PKU. Production will be tapered for a facility warmup period. Production will ramp up gradually after this warmup period.
In addition to commencing production from the PKU during the POD period, Oil Search will drill an additional eight wells.
This approval is only for a general plan of development. Specific field operations require separate approval under 11 AAC 83.346, Unit Plan of Operations.
Under 11 AAC 83.343, the 2027 POD is due Nov. 3, 2026, 90 days before the 2026 POD expires.
AOGA presentation At an Aug. 27, presentation to AOGA in Anchorage, Pete Laliberte, Santos vice president business development, said "This is our core development area, so when we sanctioned Pikka Phase I, we sanctioned it in this core development area with our partner Repsol."
Laliberte said his colleague Mark Ireland likes to say, "in this core area we have three Pikkas."
"I think that we've got the one Pikka development that we're doing right now, but we also have a unit called Horseshoe and a unit called Quokka," Laliberte said.
"In Quokka we're drilling another appraisal well this winter and in the Quokka and Horseshoe units we see 'the potential for two more Pikkas."
In other words, Santos has much more to come on the Slope.
Pikka Phase 1 is going to be developed on some 17,000 acres of land, 1% of the total Santos leasehold on the North Slope, Laliberte said, adding, "So we have a huge amount of running room and this is exactly what our subsurface team is looking at.
"We've also got a major discovery in Lagniappe in the eastern North Slope and that's with our partners, APA Corporation and Armstrong," he said. "And then finally we've got a big NPR (National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska) position -- probably a little bit longer term."
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