The Oliktok Pipeline Company filed with the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on July 13th for a permit to connect its Oliktok Pipeline to Oil Search (Alaska), LLC’s proposed gas spur pipeline, indicating the interminable development of the Pikka Oil Field continues progress toward completion.
The Oliktok Pipeline is a 16-inch diameter pipeline originating at Skid 50 in the Prudhoe Bay Unit, near Pump Station 1 of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System and terminating at Central Processing Facility (CPF) No. 1 of the Kuparuk River Unit. The proposed gas spur pipeline (GSP) would be approximately 4.9 miles long, and consist of a 12-inch diameter natural gas pipeline beginning east of Kuparuk CPF 1, and ending at the Oil Search Alaska (OSA) Seawater Treatment Plant pipeline near the intersection of the Spine Road, and Oliktok Road.
The GSP will connect the OSA 6-inch Seawater Treatment Plant Pipeline, and the Oliktok Pipeline.
With its discovery in 2013, the Pikka Oil Field brought optimistic projections for both energy production, as well as workforce numbers. As recently as 2022, the field was estimated to hold 397 million barrels of oil in proven and probable reserves, and once operational, is expected to produce around 80,000 barrels of oil per day – though that number has diminished since 2019, when the estimated production potential was 120,000 barrels per day.
The Pikka Oil Field, which is located near the Colville River village of Nuiqsut, and west of ConocoPhillips’ Kuparuk River Unit, was discovered in 2013 with the drilling of Qugruk 3, an Armstrong Oil & Gas, and Repsol jointly-owned discovery well. From there development of the field began, though it has been slowed by logistical challenges, and the changing of ownership hats.
The Papua New Guinea based energy company, Oil Search, purchased Armstrong’s 51% stake in the field in 2018 (Repsol maintains their 49% share). Then, in 2021 the South Australia based energy company, Santos, took over operation of Pikka through a merger/acquisition of Oil Search.
When Oil Search initially acquired the primary stake in Pikka, the field was projected to begin production in 2023, however, the afore mentioned delays have seen that estimate pushed all the way back to 2026.
The RCA announcement of OPC filing for a permit to connect its gas pipeline to the proposed OSA gas line suggests the grind toward operational status continues to move forward, with first oil still forecast for 2026.