Offshore staff
WASHINGTON – The US Department of Interior has announced a long-awaited development for oil and gas energy production offshore the state of Alaska. Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has issued conditional approval to Hilcorp Alaska LLC for its Liberty Project oil and gas development and production plan. If developed, the facility would be the first oil and gas production facility in federal waters off Alaska.
Hilcorp proposes to build a nine-acre artificial gravel island in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea, about 20 miles east of Prudhoe Bay and about five miles off the coast. The facility would be similar to the four oil-and-gas-producing artificial islands currently operating in the area’s state waters: Spy Island, Northstar Island, Endicott Island and Oooguruk Island.
Approval conditions include: restricted drilling into the hydrocarbon-bearing zone, which may occur only during times of solid ice conditions; seasonal restrictions on activities and vessel traffic to reduce potential disturbance to Cross Island subsistence whaling activities; and obtaining all required permits from other state and federal agencies.
BOEM says that the plan was conditionally approved only after incorporating input from the public, and from North Slope communities and tribal organizations. As the project moves forward, BOEM says that it will continue to work with Hilcorp to ensure that all appropriate safeguards are stringently applied.
10/25/2018
