BP now says it likely won't start initial drilling at its much-anticipated Liberty project just off Alaska's northern coast until next year.

That word late last week from BP's Alaska spokesman Steve Rinehart comes as one congressman and a handful of environmental groups are urging the federal government to deny permits BP still needs before drilling can begin.

Perhaps more importantly, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission recently gave notice that it intends to seek comment and perhaps reconsider state regulations governing "drilling, rig workover and well control in offshore and ultra-extended reach wells" in Alaska.

Liberty is the ultimate in ultra-extended reach drilling, and BP has touted the engineering advances that will allow its drill bits to churn down into the federal seabed as far as eight miles out from a gravel island that sits in state territory.

"Liberty wells will push new boundaries for drilling ultra-long deviated wells," a company article on the project says, "making it possible to dramatically reduce environmental impacts from development." This because many wells can be drilled from one spot, reducing the need for a bunch of gravel islands, drill sites, roads, pipelines and other things cluttering up the habitat. Liberty also anticipates using the world's largest land-based rig, put in place this spring on the Endicott island, from which Liberty will be drilled.

The $1 billion project is aiming for what's estimated now to be a 100 million barrel reservoir. BP anticipates 40,000 barrels a day of production when it's fully operational in 2013.

Rinehart says the new timeline is not caving in to pressure from critics but just a matter of being careful. Renewed scrutiny on just about everything BP is up to these days is ongoing as oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster continues to foul Gulf of Mexico beaches and BP's reputation.

"With government's interest and our own desire to ensure the project moves safely ahead, the schedule for drilling is a moving target," Rinehart wrote in an e-mail last week. "We had hoped to begin drilling the first oil well by the end of this year, but it will very likely be next year before we are ready to start."

During an earlier interview, Rinehart had explained that BP and other companies typically wait to apply for the last drilling permits until pretty close to the time they want to drill. There could be changes in the plan, for instance, or other procedural considerations, he said.

The company had hoped to submit those permit applications and get to drilling by late fall, certainly by the end of the year, he said over coffee at Café del Mundo.

But then, in the later e-mail, he noted things may have changed. "We need to take our time, work safely and make sure questions are addressed. It's not yet certain, for example, how deep, how long or in what way a federal review may occur. We don't want a firm or announced drilling schedule to impede a full process."

For its part, the federal officials aren't saying much more than that they'll take a look at critics' requests to stop the project. An Interior Department spokesperson said Friday via e-mail that if drilling permit applications are received the agency will "review them at the appropriate time and determine, based on safety and other considerations, whether the project should move forward with drilling under federal waters."