Job Description
Job Description
Through its merger with Oil Search, Santos has acquired and assumed operatorship over a world-class portfolio of oil leases on the Alaskan North Slope, USA.
Our focus in Alaska is advancement of our Pikka Phase 1 project, which includes a single drill site, an oil processing facility, and other infrastructure to support production of 80,000 barrels of oil per day. First oil is anticipated by June, 2026.
Pikka has been identified as being among the top quartile of oil and gas development projects for greenhouse gas emissions performance. Pikka is poised to play an important role in the energy transition and is aligned with our company goal of managing climate change risk.
The Pikka Unit is one of the largest conventional oil discoveries made in the United States in the last 30 years, and the Pikka Phase 1 Project is the most significant development on Alaska's North Slope in more than 20 years.
The permitted Pikka development project includes two additional drill sites for future development phases. The Alaska assets also include discoveries made from both the Mitquq and Stirrup exploration wells drilled in 2020. These opportunities combine to offer a clear path to long-term growth in Alaska.
Reporting to the Production Surveillance Team Lead, the Production Engineer will be a member of the Subsurface Production Surveillance Team. This team will be responsible for the day-to-day surveillance of all Pikka production and injection wells, including optimization of gas lift rates and injected fluid (water and gas) rates. The team will work closely with the Production Operations group to ensure Pikka production and injection are optimized and maximized each day, and monthly allocations are completed accurately. Also, close collaboration with Drilling & Completions is necessary to identify and develop well work intervention procedures and economic justification.
The Production Engineer is a key member of the Subsurface Team that is primarily tasked with the development of the Nanushuk field on the Alaska North Slope. The Nanushuk field, which is located adjacent to several giant producing oil fields, was discovered in 2013. 19 exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled in the field, which, combined with full coverage of 3D seismic data, have delineated a giant oil resource. Santos Alaska expects that the initial development will target approximately 500 million barrels of oil in the field, with first production anticipated in 2026 and plateau production rates of 80,000 BOPD (gross). 19 Development wells have also been drilled with 15 frac'd and 13 flowed back and analysed. This data has been key in supporting and updating initial production forecasts.
Formal Qualifications
•Bachelor's Degree or higher in an engineering discipline.
•Applicants must be eligible and authorized to work in the United States and must have their employment eligibility verified by a completed Form I-9.
Skills and Technical Capabilities
•Extensive experience as a petroleum engineer with an Operator, preferably with experience on a wide range of development and production projects and reservoirs.
•Substantial experience in PVT and well-bore modelling, and other reservoir engineering techniques.
•Operational experience (production, well testing, stimulation, well work design, etc.)
•Experience in horizonal and high angle well planning and operations, and stimulation technologies.
•Up to date working knowledge of technical software including [PROSPER, IPM, MBAL, PVTp] and other analytical tools, and Microsoft Office.
•Familiarity with hydrocarbon resources estimation and reporting.
•Ability to characterise and succinctly articulate the subsurface issues and recommendations to other relevant disciplines and management is required.
•Project management and ability to deliver projects to time and budget
•Ability to utilize the Company's systems and processes to ensure major projects and opportunities are delivered optimally.
•Dynamically reorganize team and business priorities to meet short term goals or evolving corporate initiatives.
•Ability to work independently but also work effectively within a multi-discipline team environment to develop clear, business-focussed recommendations and appropriate work programmes.
•Clear and concise written and oral communication skills. Strong business sense and commercial skillset. Ability to build consensus across the organization.
Experience
•15+ years of oil and gas industry experience with a strong background in petroleum engineering techniques.
•Ideally, candidates should have experience working on Alaskan field development projects, preferably with an Operator.