Santos celebrates 70 years

Company appreciates welcoming support of Alaska communities, stakeholders

Steve Sutherlin

Petroleum News

Kevin Gallagher, Santos managing director and chief executive officer, announced the 70th anniversary of the company at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association2024 annual conference in Anchorage Aug. 29.

Gallagher appeared via a pre-recorded video presentation from the Santos' Sydney, Australia headquarters, expressing gratitude to the people of Alaska, the government and the firms that have assisted in the company's development of its Pikka project on the North Slope.

"I am proud to share that 2024 marks the 70th anniversary of our company, today a global energy provider with customers across the Asia Pacific region," he said. "Our mission is to provide reliable and affordable energy to help create a better world for everyone, but our humble roots in the great Australian Outback keep us grounded."

The business was founded in remote deserts with extreme weather, and it is a part of the local communities in Australia -- such as Santos strives to operate in Alaska, he said.

"We are keenly aware that our license to operate is dependent on the support of the people of the lands where we operate, respecting the land and the culture of the indigenous peoples who steward that land is first and foremost."

Gallagher said Alaska Native people have been stewards to the land since time immemorial, adding that Santos recognizes their history, experiences and contributions to land in the region.

"We acknowledge the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. and the North Slope Borough, and the roles that they play in taking care of Santos, and we have committed to operating at the highest standards with Kuukpik Corp. and ASRC," he said. "I want to personally thank the number of Alaska Native corporations in the room here tonight for their application in the Pikka project and the partnership with us."

The company focuses on hiring and securing contractors locally, Gallagher said.

"Our Alaska senior management team has a combined 500 plus years of local oil and gas experience with nearly 300 of those years' experience in Alaska," he said. "We deliberately focused on recruiting Alaskans to join our team; over 80% of our team were already residents when we came on board and I'm very proud to highlight that 95% of our Santos employees in North America live right here in Alaska."

Santos is focused on decarbonizing its business, developing carbon management services and low carbon fuel, and is excited about the potential of carbon capture and storage, he said.

"With ASRC Energy Services and Repsol, our team is making progress with the award from the U.S. Department of Energy to study direct capture in the Arctic," Gallagher said.

At Pikka, Santos is minimizing carbon emissions using electricity to power operations in the field, he said, adding that the emissions intensity of Pikka is incredibly low on a per barrel basis -- in the top quarter of global GHG performance.

Support system w. neighbors

"Santos has completed three major community projects in the village totaling approximately $59 million," he said. "We have built a new bridge in the village to improve access and restore natural stream hydrology, we sponsored and built a new boat launch on the east bank of the Colville River -- it provides the residents with critical access to the road system subsistence fishing and hunting grounds, and improvements to the village wastewater treatment facility.

The company also looks for synergy with its urban neighbors.

"You only have to look at the downtown Anchorage skyline to see another symbol of Santos' commitment to Alaska, Gallagher said. "This July our Alaskan workforce moved into a new building on 5th Ave. and was the first major corporate office to move into downtown in over a decade -- we are thrilled to play a part in the revitalization of downtown Anchorage."

"I'm very excited about our future in Alaska, there is plenty of resource still to be developed -- not only in Pikka, but also in Quokka and Horseshoe," he said. "Suffice to say, Alaska's geology is great, we love your rocks; it's a pleasure to work with governments, communities and stakeholders across Alaska where our investment is welcome."