Trump Approves Plan to Drill Oil From Manmade Arctic Island
- Project would be first production facility in federal Arctic
- Hilcorp must abstain from activities during whaling season
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The Trump administration has authorized Hilcorp Energy Co.’s plan to build an artificial gravel island in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska and use it to extract crude -- marking the first approval of an oil production facility in federal Arctic waters.
The Interior Department’s conditional approval -- subject to seasonal restrictions and other required permits -- represents a major milestone for Hilcorp’s planned Liberty Project in the Beaufort Sea. The company’s Alaska subsidiary aims to build its nine-acre gravel island and production facility in shallow waters about five miles off the coast and 20 miles east of Prudhoe Bay.