Final drilling permit in Arctic approved for Shell

The department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) conditionally granted Shell permits for oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska.

Shell has not drilled in the Arctic since 2012 when its previous campaign there ended in some disarray.

Shell’s bid to be the first oil company to drill in the Arctic has been met with sharp opposition over the past few months. The bureau said Shell can initially drill only what are known as top holes, staying above oil-bearing areas, because a capping stack, a critical piece of safety equipment that is required to be nearby to help contain a potential spill, is on an icebreaking vessel that was forced to leave the area for repairs this month.

Shell can’t drill into oil-bearing zones at this stage because it doesn’t now have certain emergency response equipment on site. That equipment is aboard a ship headed to Portland, Ore., for repairs.

However, this is expected to be clarified when the final drilling permits are issued by the U.S. Interior Department, she said. Since then, it has deployed more than two dozen vessels to the drilling site in the Chukchi Sea, off the northwestern coast of Alaska.

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”. “The world can not afford to burn Arctic oil, and the consequences of a spill would be enormous”, she said in a statement”.

On arrival, the semi-submersible Polar Pioneer and drillship Noble Discoverer will be connected to pre-set anchor chains at Shell’s “Burger J” and “Burger B” well sites, according to company spokeswoman Meg Baldino.

“The fight to keep the Arctic Ocean off limits to Big Oil is not over, and climate activists will not let our future be dictated by Shell”, added Friends of the Earth’s Knodel.

Under the LOA, Shell is required to have trained wildlife observers on all drilling units and support vessels to minimize impacts to protected species.

“We’re not bending any rules whatsoever”, Brian Salerno with BSEE said. It is anticipated that operations can continue through September, although weather and ice conditions will influence how long drilling can take place.

Salerno emphasized that the approvals do not allow Shell to begin drilling in Alaska until it has all necessary hardware in place. That effort was plagued by problems, including the grounding of a drill rig, the Kulluk.

“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.