Mo Chahal has joined ConocoPhillips Alaska Leadership as vice president, Willow. In his new role, Mo will oversee all aspects of development planning, operational readiness and capital project management for the Willow project.
Chahal began his work in the oil and gas industry in 2003. He has held leadership positions in asset management, operations, subsurface development and appraisal, corporate planning and strategy and capital projects, and more.
Prior to his current role, Chahal had multiple assignments in Houston, Texas, including co-leading the integration of Marathon Oil Corp.
He earned a Master of Engineering degree with honors in chemical engineering from Imperial College, London in 2003.
"We are thrilled to have Mo join our team in Alaska, and looking forward to his leadership," says Erec Isaacson, president, ConocoPhillips Alaska. "His vast knowledge and varied experiences will be an asset to the Willow Project, helping us achieve first oil in 2029."
Santos to up spend near Pikka
In remarks at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher said Santos is looking to increase investments in the United States because of the pro-energy policies of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, including additional investment near its Pikka project on the North Slope of Alaska, where the company has several undeveloped prospects, such as Quokka.
"The U.S. has very pro-development policy settings and we have a great project in Alaska and potential around it and the opportunity to invest there in the future," Gallagher was quoted as saying at CERA by Reuters.
Phase 1 of the Pikka project, which is expected to produce 80,000 barrels per day of oil, is only 25% of the discovered resource, Gallagher said.
According to Reuters, he told investors last month that Santos' annual oil and gas production would grow by more than 30% in two years, in part because of the Pikka project.
The company is now unofficially reporting that Pikka Phase 1 is likely to begin production by the end of 2025 versus mid-2026.
Arctic Science & Engineering Awards Symposium
Earlier this month the ConocoPhillips Arctic Science and Engineering Awards 2025 Symposium was held in the University of Alaska Anchorage's ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building.
Following the welcome and introductions, UAA Vice Chancellor for Research Aaron Dotson spoke.
He was followed by UAA Chancellor Sean Parnell and Erec Isaacson, president of ConocoPhillips Alaska.
Introduction of presentations was handled by Dotson and were as follows:
Presentation 1 From Snow to Salt: Understanding Atmospheric Corrosion in Cold Regions and Developing Corrosivity Map for Alaska (Raghu Srinivasan);
Presentation 2 Hg in Hg: Exploring Mercury Dynamics in Arctic Marine Mammals, and the Links from Individuals to Populations (Amy Bishop).
Introduction to awardees and closing remarks were made by Dotson.
The Planetarium Demonstration and Poster reception with food and drink was held in the CPISB Atrium.
--Oil Patch Insider is compiled by Kay Cashman
