Shell Gets Conditional OK From Feds for Arctic Drilling Program

摘要

Royal Dutch Shell has received conditional approval for its multiyear plan to drill up to six wells at its Burger Prospect, located in shallow water in the Chukchi Sea about 70 miles off the northern coast of Alaska. However, Shell still has to collect additional paperwork before it can resume the Arctic exploration program that it was forced to suspend in 2012 (NGW Feb.2'15). Also last week, Shell began moving the semi-submersible drilling rig Polar Pioneer from an anchorage near Port Angeles, Washington, to the Port of Seattle (NGW Mar.30'15), Federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper said the agency's approval for the drilling plan is conditional on Shell obtaining necessary state and federal permits, including the appropriate authorizations under federal laws to protect marine mammals and endangered species.