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Shell asks for Arctic drilling extension
Royal Dutch Shell is pressing the Interior Department to extend a September deadline to complete planned drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northern coast, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Peter Slaiby, the vice president of Shell’s Alaskan operation, said Sunday that the firm asked the Interior Department for an extension of a little less than two weeks to drill in the Chukchi Sea. Shell has dealt with equipment delays that have pushed it close to its Sept. 24 cutoff date, and the firm has yet to obtain its final federal permits.
Slaiby said Shell’s Arctic Challenger ship will have all the necessary equipment and certifications by the end of the week, giving it about two weeks in the Chukchi Sea.
Interior set the Sept. 24 date to end drilling operations to avoid interference with re-emerging sea ice. Shell also plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea, in which it must stop drilling by Oct. 31.
But Michael Bromwich, the attorney who led an overhaul of Interior’s deepwater drilling oversight following the 2010 BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, recently said drilling plans in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas were composed on a “historical timeline” and based on “reason and fact.” He said Interior should exercise caution when called to reconsider the drilling schedule in those waters.
Interior’s decision on the Shell request could offer another attack line for Republicans, and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, to hit President Obama’s drilling policies.
Republicans contend Obama’s reluctance to increase drilling on federally controlled off- and onshore areas has thwarted a potential economic boost by keeping reserves off limits. Romney, on the other hand, has made such operations the centerpiece of his energy plan.
The GOP has pushed legislation to expedite Arctic offshore drilling and open up Atlantic and Pacific coastal regions compared with what Obama put forth with his five-year drilling plan. Obama’s plan, however, does not require congressional approval.
But Republican claims that increased fossil-fuel exploration would jolt the economy are likely overly optimistic, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released earlier this month. That report said opening up lands currently off-limits would bring in limited new revenue, and that the Gulf of Mexico would still carry the load for offshore production.
Kelly op de Weegh, a spokeswoman for Shell, told The Hill on Monday that the firm has been in contact with Interior about its options.
"This includes discussions on both site preparation work and the sea ice forecast at the end of the season," she said. "Current ice forecast models indicate an extended open water window.
"It remains our goal to drill two complete exploration wells plus begin some wells which can be drilled to total depth next summer," she said.
— This post was updated at 9:42 a.m.
