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.

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 project is on track to be ready for a final investment decision by mid-year 2022.

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. 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.

Position Purpose:

The Senior Geophysicist will be a key member of the Subsurface Team that is tasked with the delivery of development wells within the Pikka Unit on the North Slope of Alaska, to support maturation of future phases of development, and to evaluate near-field appraisal potential. The Pikka Unit, which is located adjacent to several giant producing oil fields, was discovered in 2013. To date, 20+ exploration and appraisal wells have been drilled in the unit area, which, combined with full coverage of 3D seismic data, have delineated a giant oil resource. The company expects that the initial development will target approximately 768 million barrels of oil in the field, with first production anticipated in 2026 and plateau production rates of 80,000 barrels per day (gross).

Reporting to the Geoscience Manager, the Senior Geophysicist will provide Geophysical support for development planning activities, provide seismic evaluation and interpretation for prospect definition and future near-field appraisal, and provide seismic inputs into ongoing reservoir modelling campaigns within the Subsurface group to assist development planning efforts for future development phases, as well as support seismic re-processing, inversion activities and new 3D/4D seismic acquisition projects. The Senior Geophysicist will also provide guidance to the greater integrated Subsurface, Operations, Drilling and Completions teams regarding well design, data gathering requirements, and support the interpretation and integration of well and geophysical data during our active development drilling campaigns. The Senior Geophysicist is also expected to identify, capture and apply continuous learning practices into Geophysical workflows in order to continue to build efficiencies and improve the way we work.

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities:

• Promote and lead in the implementation of Santos Ltd policies and procedures, including Safety, health, environment, process, people and planning
• Seismic Interpretation: Interpret 3D seismic in conjunction with geologists' and petrophysicists' interpretations in order to develop seismically constrained, production-scale static reservoir models of the Nanushuk reservoir and secondary reservoirs, and help to define future near-field appraisal targets. Provide support for uncertainty quantification efforts for volumetric ranges in order to rank development concepts against decision criteria and better understand subsurface risks.
• Quantitative Seismic Interpretation: Perform, using in-house software and in conjunction with QI specialists, rock physics analyses of existing wells and seismic to form a basis for the quantitative interpretation of seismic (AvO etc). Work with seismic processing and QI specialists to improve data quality and enable improved models. Engage and oversee external Contractors or JV staff to perform additional work where appropriate.
• Data Acquisition and Technology: assist in the planning of 3D and 4D seismic acquisition programs. Identifying, testing and implementing the use of new technology to support subsurface imaging and opportunity de-risking through better processing workflows and by promoting the implementation of new geophysical technologies.
• Coaching and Mentoring: Act as a Geoscience mentor, providing expert counsel and direction to geoscientists to help establish production-scale, geologic model focused seismic interpretation as well as to other disciplines within the broader Alaskan Business Unit to enhance their understanding of Geophysics related topics
• Professional Development: Identify an internal professional development mentor and opportunities to gain exposure and support business drivers for Santos projects. Remain up to date on the latest information on new Geoscience technologies and methods, and recommend application of such technologies/methods relevant to operations, reservoir characterization, seismic interpretation, QI and reservoir modeling activities. Seek out external coursework, workshops, or other opportunities to develop Geoscience acumen within the Subsurface group and within other relevant disciplines.
• Data Management: Build and maintain accurate and comprehensive databases. Champion data stewardship within the Subsurface group. Create guidelines and standards for Geoscience databases.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required:

Formal Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) in Geophysics/physics/geology/mathematics. MSc or PhD preferred.

Skills and Technical Capabilities

• Expert seismic interpretation skills, with defined capability to apply sequence stratigraphic techniques and the ability to provide fit-for-purpose seismic interpretation for 3D reservoir modelling campaigns (production-scale definition of geologic architecture and flow units), for near-field appraisal definition and for probabilistic volumetric evaluations.
• Proven geophysical data acquisition and processing mastery, with previous experience in coordinating seismic processing
• QI expertise: competence in computing seismic attributes, undertaking / interpreting seismic AVO analysis and seismic inversion
• Good level of understanding of the use of other geophysical data types such as VSP, micro-seismic, tiltmeter, gravity and magnetics
• High level of expertise in a variety of exploration and development settings that preferably includes Petrel, Hampson Russell, Rokdoc and Petrosys
• The ability to characterise and succinctly articulate the subsurface issues and recommendations to other relevant disciplines and management is required
• Ability to work independently, but also work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team environment to develop clear, business-focused recommendations and appropriate work programmes.
• Clear and concise written and oral communication skills. Ability to build consensus across the organization.

Experience

• Ideally 10-15 years of oil and gas industry experience working as a Geoscientist with a variety of geologic settings with reservoir characterization and operational roles in Exploration, Development and Production
• Experience in 2D and 3D seismic interpretation using workstations, with an emphasis on working in 3D and using seismic QI tools.
• Ideally, candidates should have experience working on Alaskan field development projects, preferably with an Operator.