ConocoPhillips Brings Coyote 3SX Online in Alaska, Adds 12,000 Bbl/d
ConocoPhillips has started production at its Coyote 3SX project on Alaska’s North Slope, a development expected to add up to 12,000 barrels per day gross output, Rigzone reports.
Market Impact
The Coyote 3SX project, part of the Kuparuk River Unit, was built this year and came in under budget at approximately $800 million, according to ConocoPhillips Alaska. The company said it invests roughly $1 billion annually to sustain and grow its Alaska legacy assets through projects like Coyote. Production will flow into the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, the 800-mile line running from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez that ConocoPhillips partly owns.
“The additional pipeline required for the project will support increased production from Coyote as volumes rise in 2026 and beyond,” said ConocoPhillips Alaska president Erec Isaacson. The project follows the 2024 startup of the Nuna project’s 3T drillsite, the first drillsite developed in the Greater Kuparuk Area in nearly a decade. Isaacson said at the time that the Nuna module was the first production module of its kind fabricated in-state in more than two decades. Looking further out, the company’s Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve is targeted for production start in 2029 with a planned capacity of 180,000 barrels per day.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- ConocoPhillips’ roughly $1 billion annual Alaska sustaining capex points to continued demand for North Slope civil, mechanical, and pipeline tie-in contractors beyond the Coyote 3SX completion.
- Rising Coyote volumes through 2026 will require ongoing pipeline support work tied to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, a lead for E&I and pipefitting crews already working the KRU corridor.
- The 2024 Nuna module fabrication, done in-state for the first time in over two decades, signals ConocoPhillips is willing to award module fabrication work to Alaska-based shops rather than out-of-state builders.
- Willow’s 2029 production target with 180,000 bbl/d capacity means multi-year field service opportunities on the North Slope are still ahead, giving subcontractors time to position for future subcontract packages as that project advances toward construction.
