The Liberty Project

The Liberty Project's estimated investment is valued at $20.5 billion for non-profit organizations across the US, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. In November 2014, Hilcorp acquired primary ownership of Liberty. Hilcorp estimates that the Liberty Unit contains approximately 150 million barrels of recoverable, high-quality crude oil. The project, operated by Hilcorp, envisions the construction of a nine-acre artificial gravel island in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea, located about 20 miles east of Prudhoe Bay and approximately five miles off the coast. The proposed project includes the development of a mine-site to supply gravel for the construction of the LDPI, the construction of the island and ice roads, and the installation of an undersea pipeline that reaches the shore from the Liberty Drilling and Production Island, connecting to the existing above-ground Badami pipeline. The facility would resemble the four oil-and-gas-producing artificial islands currently in operation in the area's state waters: Spy Island, Northstar Island, Endicott Island, and Oooguruk Island. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) within the Interior issued conditional approval to Hilcorp Alaska LLC for its Liberty Project oil and gas development and production plan on Thursday. The Interior has stated that Liberty represents "a long-awaited development for oil and gas energy production offshore the state of Alaska." If developed, this facility would become the first oil and gas production facility in federal waters off Alaska. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke remarked, "Today, we're announcing approval of the Hilcorp Liberty Project, which, if completed, will be the first production facility ever located in federal waters off Alaska." The Department of the Interior clarified that the plan received conditional approval only after incorporating input from the public, North Slope communities, and tribal organizations. "As the project progresses, BOEM will continue to collaborate with Hilcorp to ensure that all appropriate safeguards are rigorously applied," stated the DOI. The approval conditions include restrictions on drilling into the hydrocarbon-bearing zone, which may only occur during times of solid ice conditions, seasonal limitations on activities and vessel traffic to minimize potential disturbance to Cross Island subsistence whaling activities, and obtaining all necessary permits from other state and federal agencies. Joe Balash, the Department of the Interior's Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, commented, "There are already four other gravel-island facilities off the North Slope, and we consider Hilcorp's plan to represent a relatively conservative, time-tested approach toward offshore oil and gas development. Using input from North Slope communities, tribal organizations, and the public, we have developed a robust set of environmental mitigation measures and safety practices that will be applied to this project." Currently, this project has been awarded to individuals named Matthew Giovanni, Bryan Hartmann,Bernard E Walter and Mark Williams to work on various sectors of the project, while the rest of the details remain undisclosed. THE LIBERTY PROJECT Hilcorp Alaska The Liberty Oil and Gas Project will be developed jointly by Hilcorp Alaska, BP and ASRC Exploration (AEX). Liberty, which is believed to have 80-150 million barrels of recoverable oil, is the largest light-oil reservoir to be developed on the North Slope according to the partners. The oil field having a life expectancy of 15-20 years is expected to have a peak production of 60,000-70,000 barrels/day within a couple of years of initial production. Development of the oil reservoir is anticipated to make up for the reducing oil production on the North Slope and help in boosting the lifetime and efficiency of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. The Anchorage-based Hilcorp Alaska had submitted a development and production plan (DPP) for the Liberty project to BOEM in mid-September 2015. As per the DPP, Hilcorp plans to create a small man-made gravel island, nearly 32kms east of Prudhoe Bay, in the 19ft shallow federal waters of the Beaufort Sea. The oil and natural gas company intends to build a “pipe-in-pipe” subsea pipeline to transport oil to shore with the offshore part of it to be laid in a trench before getting buried. Onshore, the pipeline will be connected with the Badami pipeline which is linked to existing oil and gas set up at Prudhoe Bay.