Report from US environment group warns that ice, freezing temperatures and high seas would overwhelm any clean-up attempts Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent Thursday 11 November 2010 10.31 GMT The Trans-Alaska oil pipeline. Photograph: Doug Wilson/Corbis The next big offshore oil disaster could take place in the remote Arctic seas where hurricane-force winds, 30ft seas, [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Arctic’
Arctic Oil Spill Report
“There is a lot of pressure by Shell to drill this summer,” Marilyn Heiman, director of the US Arctic programme at Pew said. “But the oil companies are just not prepared for the Arctic. The spill plans are thoroughly inadequate.” U.S. Coast Guard Ice Breaker Healy in U.S. Arctic Waters © USGS Oil Spill Prevention [...]
Arctic Drilling Poses Untold Risks, Study Concludes
November 11, 2010, 5:43 pm By LESLIE KAUFMAN An image of a an oil-spill response vessel from a Shell commercial promoting Arctic drilling. Now that the moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling has been lifted by the Obama administration, the battle for the Arctic is heating up again. The suspension on deep-sea drilling was [...]
Potentially toxic fate of gray whales in Beaufort and Chukchi seas
BY A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF SHELL OIL USA John, I don’t have time to spend writing much of an article for you on Alaska and Shell’s drilling plans, but I will make an observation that I am sure the WWF has considered, but then maybe not. California gray whales migrate to the Beaufort and Chukchi [...]
Greenland sees oil as key to independence
By Andrew Ward in Stockholm and Sylvia Pfeifer in London Several of the worlds biggest oil companies are vying for access to Greenland after a gas discovery this week raised expectations for offshore exploration around the Arctic island nation, in spite of environmental concerns over drilling in an area known as iceberg alley. UK-based Royal [...]
What happens if Statoil is involved in major Arctic Ocean blowout?
Comment by former Shell employee on the article: Shell, Statoil to Conduct Seismic Studies in Chukchi Sea It is my understanding that Statoil, which just received permission from a Federal court to proceed with seismic exploration studies in the Chukchi Sea, was at one time wholly owned by the Norwegian government. Today it is a [...]
Shell announces plans for summer offshore exploration drilling
Shell plans to drill its first test well in the Chukchi Sea in the summer of 2010 or 2011, using the Frontier Discoverer drill ship. The company also plans to drill a second well in the Beaufort Sea with the same vessel later in the summer, according to Pete Slaiby, general manager for Shell Exploration and Production’s Alaska operations.
Shell still plans Chukchi drilling despite ruling
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell still plans to start exploration drilling next year in Alaska’s potentially oil-rich Chukchi Sea in spite of a new legal setback, a company manager in Alaska said on Monday.
Battle Over Offshore Drilling In Arctic Dwarfs ANWR
The biggest lease of the most recent sale went to Shell Gulf of Mexico, which spent $105 million for rights in the Chukchi Sea. Shell already had bought leases even further north and was ready with rigs when then-President George W. Bush lifted the ban on drilling along the Outer Continental Shelf.
Shell’s record shows protecting environment a top priority (says Shell)
The best practices and technology we bring to our offshore work make Shell a preferred operator around the world.
The Great Game Moves North
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court, for example, ruled last November that before the Royal Dutch Shell company can move forward with exploratory drilling in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska — for which it had already paid the U.S. government billions of dollars in leases — the U.S. Interior Department needs to further study the environmental impacts of drilling on the sea’s bowhead whale population and nearby indigenous communities.
Federal court vacates Alaska denial of Beaufort oil drilling proposal
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A federal appeals court has vacated an opinion issued last year that halted Shell Oil Co. drilling plans for the Beaufort Sea off Alaska’s northern coast, leaving both sides in the case wondering what the action means.
Shell Oil’s setback is unfortunate for the company
…absent any successful appeal, Shell and the MMS will need to find or conduct more studies that satisfy the scientific judgments of the judges. If the company and agency cannot do so, the Beaufort Sea lease agreement they entered won’t be worth more than the paper on which it’s printed. That would be an unfortunate result for the company and Alaska.
Shell Oil Cancels Alaskan Drilling Project, 800 Jobs At Stake
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she was disappointed in Shell’s decision because of its impact on the job market.
Shell asks for rehearing of Ninth Circuit court decision; delays 2009 Beaufort drilling
Shell said it will file a petition with the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Dec. 18 to ask for a rehearing of the courts decision to block Alaskan Beaufort Sea drilling.


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