“Shell shouldn’t be drilling in the Arctic, and neither should anybody else”.
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The US Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has conditionally granted Royal Dutch Shell two final permits for exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska.
Shell, which has faced complications and challenges from environmentalists for years as it has pursued drilling in the Arctic, received initial government approval in May. Shell’s capping stack, N/V Fennica, was damaged en route to Alaska and was re-routed to Portland, Oregon for repairs.
The statement said the company would only be able to drill one well at a time and would have to wait to drill deeper into oil-bearing formations until the arrival on site of its capping stack, a critical piece of equipment in the event of a well blowout.
From mass protests in the Shell fleet’s temporary base at Seattle, through guerilla raids of Shell vessels at sea, to lawsuits and the recent letters written to the USA authorities, the anti-drilling campaigners have been persistent and inventive but their efforts have failed for now.
BSEE safety inspectors plan to be onboard the drilling units Noble Discoverer and Transocean Polar Pioneer 24 hours a day, seven days a week “to provide continuous oversight and monitoring of all approved activities”.
Shell can start immediately to drill the top sections of wells off the northern coast of Alaska. The capping stack, which functions like a many-tonned sink stopper, could be in place by the time its wells get to the point where they are near oil, the company said. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requires a minimum of 15 miles between drill sites to avoid significant effects on walrus.
Franz Matzner, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that “Shell shouldn’t be drilling in the Arctic, and neither should anybody else”.
Interior spokeswoman Emily Beyer said Shell’s understanding of the rule is correct, however. Its drill rigs and support vessels are in waters off Alaska now, and may begin work soon.
Shell has high hopes for its Chukchi Sea initiative, with about $6 billion invested to date including $2 billion spent in 2008 for the federal Outer Continental Shelf leases. It is anticipated that operations can continue through September, although weather and ice conditions will influence how long drilling can take place. Shell’s efforts to explore since 2008 have been dogged by lawsuits and operational problems, however.
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“The APDs were approved only after careful review of the adequacy of Shell’s ice management plans in the absence of the M/V Fennica as well as the consistency of the plans with protections in place for marine mammals”, said federal officials.
