9 letter to the Alaska Department ofВ NaturalВ Resources.ДЄfter rebuffing a ConocoPhillips' proposal for Oil Search to pay $95 million for long-term use of its Kuparuk roads, Oil Search applied to the Department ofВ NaturalВ Resources for a permit to access those roads, which are on state land. Santos needs access to Kuparuk's roads for its operations, the company said in a Feb. The Pikka project, the biggest new oil prospect on Alaskan state land in decades, is next to ConocoPhillips' Kuparuk River Unit (KRU) oil fields. In February, it flagged that the project would be ready for a final investment decision by mid-year.

Santos is the operator of the Pikka oil project on Alaska's North Slope, acquired during its takeover of Oil Search last year.

The dispute could also delay Santos's planned sale of its majority stake in the project, which could thwart its target of raising $2 billion to $3 billion from asset sales in 2022.Д¬onocoPhillips, the largest oil producer in Alaska, is seen as a potential buyer of that stake.

Pikka road