The Chevron-operated Big Foot deepwater project, located in the Gulf of Mexico, has started crude oil and natural gas production. The field is located approximately 225 miles south of New Orleans in a water depth of approximately 5,200 feet.
The Big Foot field was discovered in 2006, is estimated to contain total recoverable resources of more than 200 million oil-equivalent barrels and has a projected production life of 35 years. The project uses a 15-slot drilling and production tension-leg platform, the deepest of its kind in the world, and is designed for a capacity of 75,000 barrels of oil and 25 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
For more information, visit www. chevron.com or call (925) 842-1000.
Bureau of Land Management begins planning effort for NPR-A
The Bureau of Land Management recently published a Notice of Intent to begin the development of a new Integrated Activity Plan (IAP) and associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the area.
The purpose of the IAP and EIS is to develop a new management strategy for the NPR-A consistent with Secretarial Order 3352, which was signed in June 2017 and envisions clean and safe development in the NPR-A while avoiding regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy production, constrain economic growth and prevent job creation. The order calls for the review and development of a revised IAP "that strikes an appropriate balance of promoting development while protecting surface resources."
The action comes after the State of Alaska and the North Slope Borough asked the Department of the Interior to make more investment in infrastructure and to help build capacity to support their aligned goals in light of recently increased activity on Alaska's North Slope.
For more information, visit www.blm. gov or call (202) 208-3801.
Interior Department's FY 2018 disbursements climb to $8.93 billion
The Interior's Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) disbursed $8.93 billion in fiscal year 2018 (FY 2018) from energy production on federal and American Indian lands and offshore areas. That figure represents an increase of $1.82 billion over the previous year.
Often the second-highest generator of federal income following taxes, energy revenue disbursements are a critical source of funding to states, American Indian Tribes and individual Indian mineral owners, as well as to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Reclamation Fund, Historic Preservation Fund and the U.S. Treasury.
ONRR disbursed more than $1.78 billion of the FY 2018 energy revenues to 35 states as their cumulative share of revenues collected from oil, gas and mineral production on federal lands within their borders and from offshore oil and gas tracts in federal waters adjacent to their shores.
For more information, visit www.doi. gov or call (202) 208-3100.
BOEM approves Liberty project off Alaska
WASHINGTON -- The Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued conditional approval to Hilcorp Alaska LLC for its Liberty Project oil and gas development and production plan. If developed, the facility would be the first oil and gas production facility in federal waters off Alaska.
Hilcorp proposes to build a 9-acre artificial gravel island in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea, about 20 miles east of Prudhoe Bay and about 5 miles off the coast. The facility would be similar to the four oil-and-gas-producing artificial islands currently operating in the area's state waters: Spy Island, Northstar Island, Endicott Island and Oooguruk Island.
BOEM used a rigorous evaluation process based on the best and most recent science available to evaluate the safety and environmental impacts of the Liberty Project.
For more information, visit www.doi.gov or call (202) 208-3100.
BP names new Gulf of Mexico platform
BP's new floating production unit for the Mad Dog 2 project in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico will be named Argos.
The name, chosen by the project team and an employee survey, is a reference to Odysseus' loyal dog from "The Odyssey" and a nod to the Mad Dog spar, an existing production facility operated by BP that is located about six nautical miles away from the Argos site.
The Mad Dog 2 project includes the Argos platform, with the capacity to produce up to 140,000 gross barrels of crude oil per day through a subsea production system from up to 14 production wells and eight water injection wells.
The platform will be the first new BP-operated production facility in the Gulf of Mexico since 2008, when Thunder Horse came on line.
For more information, visit www.bp.com or call (281) 366-2000.