BP Exploration Alaska Inc. said it is likely to delay the start of drilling in its offshore Liberty field until early 2011 to give state an federal regulators additional time to review the drilling plan, a company spokesman said.
The plan had been to start the first of Liberty's ultra-extended reach wells this fall, spokesman Steve Rinehart said.
Despite the delay, the project is still a go, Rinehart said. BP's preparations for the well, which has included assembly of one of the world's largest rigs to drill the wells, was one of a handful of major projects under way this spring and summer on the North Slope.
Liberty is in federal outer continental shelf submerged lands five miles offshore Alaska's Beaufort Sea coast. Some of the wells will be to reservoir locations eight miles laterally from the surface location of the rig. These wells will set world records in terms of lateral reach.
The rig is located on a gravel production island on the Endicott oil field, which BP operates. It has been producing since the mid-1980s.
"In recent weeks we have learned that federal and state agencies will seek additional reviews of the well plan, and we want to cooperate and give full attention to this," Rinehart said.
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the state agency that regulates drilling practices, as well as the U.S. Minerals Management Service, have said they will pay extra attention the to extended-reach drilling.
Endicott is estimated to have about 100 million barrels of recoverable reserves. At peak the field would produce about 40,000 barrels per day.
Tim Bradner can be reached at tim.bradner.@alaskajournal.com.
