Petroleum News reports that BP's new Liberty Project off the North Slope of Alaska is not (was not) covered under the Obama Administration's Deep Water Moratorium.

Frank Quimby, spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said:

"The deepwater 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," Frank Quimby, public information officer for the U.S. Department of the Interior, told Petroleum News on June 2. "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."

Interior says that for the purpose of the moratorium, deepwater is over 500 feet, which may or may not apply to Liberty, depending on the source, and that the man-made rock island the rig sits on allows it to be considered onshore. 

If I understand it correctly, the rock island is in state waters, but an Outer Continental Shelf study would need to be completed eventually, since the plan is for extended drilling into federal waters; two miles down, then six miles out, to reach the oil pool.   

(The former) MMS has already approved BP's production plan, but as BP hasn't yet applied for a drilling permit, it hasn't, of course, received one.

Original plans were for drilling to commence soon, and production of the 100,000 barrel field was to begin in 2011.  Since the Beaufort Sea freezes up, time is, as they say, of the essence.

BP says five of the six planned wells will require the longest extended reach drills in the world, and perhaps require the largest 'land rig' in the world.  BP also says:

"The extra length requires bigger and more sophisticated equipment and drilling mud to keep the hole open throughout the drilling and completion operations," BP said an April 2007 development plan filed with the Interior Department. "The enhanced level of technology required to operate the rig systems is also a challenge."

Reuters reports that Ken Salazar's spokesperson insists that additional safety standards will apply, including  blowout prevention and response plans.  It is under review.  Also from Reuters:

"Last month the department postponed Royal Dutch Shell's plans to drill this summer in Alaska's Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Prior to the Gulf oil spill, the administration had already canceled proposed lease sales in those offshore areas.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the agency responsible for offshore energy oversight allowed BP to write its own environmental review for the project."

Critics say that extended reach drilling tends to create more gas kicks, and they are harder to detect; also it's riskier because it's so new.  The more powerful machinery needed to drill at an angle puts more pressure on pipes and well casings.  They point out that the gravel island is so tiny, that any leaks would fill the surrounding waters quickly; the waters are home to seals and polar bears and, in the winter, thick ice.

For myself, the project gets close to lunacy when I picture a leak, a spill, a blowout occurring, and trying to stop it, or do clean up in frozen seas.  It's the stuff nightmares are made of.

*In the summer, bowhead whales migrate through the area.

BP states: 

"The overall Liberty Project has been planned and designed to minimize adverse effects to biological resources," BP wrote in 2007 in the development proposal to federal regulators. "Impacts to wetlands have been significantly reduced including shoreline and tundra habitat for birds and caribou."

No comment.

This is one project we may be able to put to bed; there will undoubtedly be more, but write or call the White House if you care.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Phone Number

Comments: 202-456-1111

Hey, BP!  This one's for you!