The project sponsor (Hilcorp) is delaying commencement of project construction by at least one year, with a new start date of December 1, 2020. The delay in construction commencement is NOT due to the MMPA authorization. To accommodate this delay and ensure Hilcorp has the appropriate MMPA authorization in place prior to construction, NOAA is updating the MMPA authorization schedule. NOAA consulted with both Hilcorp and the lead agency regarding these schedule changes. Hilcorp fully supports the Dashboard modifications and believes the new milestones are appropriate given Hilcorp's revised permitting and construction timeline for the project. Further, Hilcorp has stated that these date changes will not cause any delays to their current permitting and construction schedule. With these modifications, the MMPA authorization process is scheduled to conclude 10 months prior to the commencement of project construction, at which time the MMPA authorization would be needed. Also of note, this date change does not affect any other aspects of the permitting timetable. Further, our agency's CERPO has been made aware of the date change. Please let us know if you have questions regarding this request.
PROJECT WEBSITE: https://www.boem.gov/Liberty/
All dates below are specific to the schedule of the Environmental Review and Permitting processes for this project.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING STATUS
PAUSED
ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING PROCESSES
COMPLETED
SECTOR
Conventional Energy Production
CATEGORY
Project Category
FAST-41 Covered Projects
LEAD AGENCY
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
View FAST-41 Postings by Agencies
Other Agencies with Actions or Authorizations:
Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service
Department of Defense, US Army Corps of Engineers - Regulatory
Description:
Hilcorp proposes to develop the Liberty Prospect in Foggy Island Bay, Beaufort Sea, Alaska by constructing an artificial drilling and production gravel island, approximately 6 miles offshore. The proposed Liberty Development described in the Development and Production Plan includes five stages: construction of the island; development of a new gravel mine; construction of a pipeline; construction of associated ice roads; and drilling and hydrocarbon production.
The island will have drilling and production processing facilities, with a single phase oil pipeline transmitting the produced sales-quality oil to shore. The island will include 16 well slots: 5-8 producers, 4-6 injectors, 2 disposal wells. Hilcorp estimates that peak production will be approximately 60,000 - 70,000 barrels per day. Estimated first production may occur in 2020-2021. The project life is estimated to be 15-20 years, with a total recovery estimate of about 167 million barrels.
Associated Permitting:
Environmental Protection Agency - NPDES Permit: Completed 10/26/2018, available here: https://www.epa.gov/
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement - Oil Spill Response Plan: Returned to Hilcorp July 2019 with a Request For Additional Information (RFAI)
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement - Platform Approval Program and Platform Verification Program: Approval timeline dependent upon Oil Spill Response Plan Approval
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement - Application for Permit to Drill: Approval timeline dependent upon Oil Spill Response Plan Approval
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement - Production Safety Systems Permitting: Approval timeline dependent upon Oil Spill Response Plan Approval
Note: The project timeline represents the cooperating agencies' estimates at when agency actions could occur depending on the project proponent's future submissions.
Milestone: Issue Letter of Authorization
Requested extensions greater than 30 days for this Action are shown below:
Publish Final Incidental Take Authorization in the FR by 156 days
From: 05/31/2019
To: 12/01/2019
Issue Letter of Authorization by 218 days
From: 07/05/2019
To: 02/01/2020