A US company has proposed building an artificial island to drill for oil off Alaska’s coast.
Hilcorp Alaska has filed a development and production plan with the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
The move is one a number of initial steps to build an island, named the Liberty project, which would take around two years.
It would be planned for the Beaufort Sea, where a number of companies already own leases.
The BOEM is now said to be assessing what the environmental impact of the proposed plans would be.
According to reports, the Liberty oilfield contains one of the largest potential sources of new light oil production on the North Slope.
Hilcorp has compared the building of the proposed Liberty Island to other islands that have been built and developed including Northstar, Endicott and Oooguruk.
The island would have facilities for drilling, production, production support, utilities, camp and relief-well area.
Meanwhile the outer perimeter of the island would be heavily reinforced using North Slope technology.
The island would have no permanent road or causeway to connect the island to the mainland and all personnel and equipment would be transported by helicopter or boat.
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