This fall, BP hopes to pull off a record-setting feat: Using a high-tech drill from a gravel island in the Beaufort Sea, it plans to reach two miles deep, turn and bore another six to eight miles horizontally to tap an oil reservoir in federal waters.
The moratorium imposed on new deep-water drilling and drilling in Arctic waters, imposed in the aftermath of the Gulf spill and BP's inability to contain the leak, imploded Royal Dutch Shell's plans to begin exploratory drilling in Alaska this summer. But BP still has hope of seeing its latest Alaska venture succeed.
Wednesday, the U.S. government confirmed the drilling "pause" does not apply to BP's new project, called Liberty.
"The deep-water moratorium does not apply to this particular project, which is based from a man-made island and would potentially be drilling directionally into formations under shallow water. If drilling permit applications are submitted for the project, the Department of the Interior will review them at the appropriate time and determine, based on safety and other considerations, whether the project should move forward with drilling under federal waters," said Kendra Barkoff, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Before it drills, BP will need state and federal drilling permits -- permits for which it has not yet applied, according to the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission, the state permitting agency, and Barkoff, speaking on behalf of the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the federal permitting agency.
Operators typically apply for a permit about one month in advance of the intended drilling date, according to AOGCC commissioner Cathy Foerster, adding that Liberty, which launches from state waters to reach a federal reservoir, is an unusually complex project.
"If they want to start in September I'd hope they get us something pretty soon," she said.
Asked to clarify Liberty's development timeline, BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the company, which plans to begin its first development well this fall, "will apply for permits in line with that schedule."
Guy Schwartz, a senior petroleum engineer with AOGCC who handles BP's permitting requests, said he hasn't seen anything yet from the company.
"It appears their timetable is slipping a bit for getting a well spudded with the new rig," Schwartz said.
In prior interviews BP has said it plans to start producing oil from Liberty next year.
Foerster expects AOGCC to take a hard look at the entire project, including segments of the drilling operation that travel outside the state's jurisdiction, because "if something goes wrong it's going to affect state land or state water."
"If we see something that they're doing outside of state waters that we don't think is safe, we're not going to approve the permit," she said.
While all permitting requests are thoroughly evaluated, with the shadow of the Gulf spill still looming, BP can expect heightened scrutiny with Liberty, according to AOGCC. Gone are the days when regulators, which send inspectors to the sites and check out the drill plans, assume everything has been done top notch, Foerster said. Questions will be asked twice, and reviews will be conducted with "a different mindset" -- looking for what might be wrong instead of expecting to find that an operator -- in this case BP -- has done everything right, she said.
"I think everybody trusts BP a little bit less than they did six weeks ago," Foerster said.
Contact Jill Burke at jill(at)alaskadispatch.com.
Follow AlaskaDispatch.com on Twitter: www.twitter.com/alaskadispatch
No wonder we are in trouble. It takes longer than that to get a permit for and addition to your house, or to construct a seawall for instance. Drilling is far more complex and dangerous, yet oil companies can expect a permit in 30 days. RIDICULOUS!!!
Guess 125 million gallons of crude released by Aug. 14 into the Gulf and its fragile estuaries isn't enough for BeyondPunishment. Must create havoc in the Arctic as well.
When was it that MMS was to be reformed? How about ABOLISHED? Put the EPA in control of this ongoing human insanity.
.
That is what Obama is doing. He and his team are finally taking American public concerns seriously. Tomorrow his is scheduled to return to LA. They are only taking it kind of seriously.
I hope to see two things. One, he gets out and sees the real thing without having the beach manicured beforehand. He makes sure that all beaches are being cleaned and the skimmers are out cleaning the oil off the water. ALL BEACHES.
Two, he needs to keep that moratorium in place. Yesterday it was announced that another off shore well was approved for drilling in the gulf by the feds. They don’t have the technology to shut these leaks off quickly and effectively and they want to drill more?
Please someone wake me from this nightmare.
This morning BP is now airing on network tv a first class commercial telling us how wonderful they are and making empty guarantees.
Hey ABC news network, with one hand you take them to task and with other hand you have open for the revenues from such commercials? What gives? Would you also air commercials from Sadam Hussain, or Hitler, or any number of horrendous entities? BP is not some warm fuzzy misunderstood organization. It has like 760 serious complaints compared to the next oil company who had only 8! This is a bunch of renegades in the industry and ABC is airing their warm and fuzzy commercials?
Isn’t ABC the Obama channel?
Because of soulless greed and criminal negligence America now has to deal with the worst man made environmental diaster in human history that will take Mother Nature generations to recover from.
Anyone with a spiritual connection to all thiings can only feel a great sense of despair and deep sadness as the gulf turns into a lake of oil and as a result an enormous loss of all living things this oil comes in contact with.
If this horrific environmental disaster wakes up our species to our unrelenting destruction of this planet and our species then brings about a new spiritual awakening of the sacred web of life and the interconnection of all things then this horrific environmental disaster will ultimately prove of tremendous benefit for our species and our miracle planet.
Can't even think about the rest.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100602/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_new_well
I.Have Been.Utterly.Struck.Dumb.
For.The.Night.
Must rest now. Fresh outrages by the day. Tomorrow almost here.
Must rest now
Drilling off every coast in the US won't resolve the issue. Over 9-years domestic off-shore yielded 537 million barrels a year. The US consumes 19.5 million barrels of oil a day. The most productive portion newly opened 24 million mile acre area to drilling in the eastern gulf is expected to yield only 3.5 billion recoverable barrels of oil or 6 months worth.
According to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE) analysis we could save 49 billion barrels of oil by 2030 with an all out investment in cutting energy waste from automobiles, buildings, electrical grid and elsewhere.
By raising mileage standards for cars & light trucks would cut oil use by 11.6 billion gallons @ yr. by 2016, heavy trucks another 11 billion gallons by 2030.
It is ridiculous that plans to drill for oil have not been shuttered when the alternatives would, by far more reduce oil imports and save the environment, too. Investing in energy-efficient-cutting-energy-waste is a no brainer.
So why aren't we? Oh yeah, I forgot: it is all about profit.