Green Blog: Shell Ends Alaska Offshore Drilling for the Year

Shell Oil had its problems this year drilling off the Arctic coast of Alaska, but on Wednesday it declared success on the final day of operations for the season. (Only a brief autumn exploration season is allowed by regulators because of ice flows.)

Thick ice delayed operations in the spring. Then, one of the drilling ships dragged its anchors and nearly collided with the coast. And finally an oil spill containment barge was damaged during certification tests.

In the end, the company did not have time to drill in the underwater zones that contain oil.

But after years of legal and regulatory challenges, Shell did begin drilling two wells ? one in the Beaufort Sea, and a second in the Chukchi Sea ? the first time oil exploration was conducted in the two Arctic seas simultaneously in decades.

The two preliminary 1,400-foot ?top holes,? Shell said in a statement, ?will go a long way in positioning Shell for another successful drilling program in 2013.?

?We are very pleased with the work we accomplished this year and look forward to picking up where we left off when the sea ice retreats next summer,? Shell said.

Shell had hoped to explore for oil this summer, and fell short of that goal. But the company, with support from the Obama administration, passed virtually every regulatory and legal test to finally drill in Alaskan Arctic waters. Other oil companies are watching and eager to follow in what could prove to be the next great oil find in the United States.

Environmentalists promise to look for ways to delay the drilling, but Shell will probably get its way next summer no matter who wins the presidential election.

To save time next summer, Shell said it left in place anchors for both drilling rigs at the drilling sites.

And in a rare oil company compliment to the Obama administration and government regulations, Shell said that the regulatory process over the last 18 months was ?a model of how offshore permitting could and should work.?

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/shell-ends-alaska-offshore-drilling-for-the-year/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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