Royal Dutch Shell Plc  .com Rotating Header Image

Shell Says Delay in U.S. Offshore Oil Drilling ‘Highly Unusual’

By Katarzyna Klimasinska – Jun 2, 2011 3:53 PM GMT+0100

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), blocked for about four years from developing 10-year Arctic leases purchased from the U.S., said the delays are “highly unusual” and undermine confidence in the federal offshore program.

The Hague-based company acquired oil leases in the Beaufort Sea in 2005, and added Chukchi Sea leases in 2008. Since then, Shell has been pursuing permits from drilling regulators and the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Although the leases were issued to Shell, the government’s permitting and regulatory process has not been equipped to deliver,” David Lawrence, Shell’s executive vice president of exploration and commercial, said in remarks prepared today for a House Natural Resources Committee hearing in Washington. “This is highly unusual. The federal government’s decision to hold a sale is, in effect, a decision that outer continental shelf exploration and development is desired. ”

The company has said it needed two years to prepare for drilling in the Beaufort Sea and was ready in 2007.

Shell filed two exploration plans last month to drill as many as two wells a year in the Beaufort Sea, where the leases expire in 2015, and as many as three a year in the Chukchi Sea from 2012 through 2013. A delay in issuing an air permit last year forced the company to postpone exploratory drilling in the Beaufort Sea that was planned for this year.

The Beaufort and Chukchi seas are among “the most unique places of the planet” and oil exploration might pose a threat to polar bears and walruses, the Natural Resources Defense Council said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katarzyna Klimasinska in Washington at [email protected];

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Larry Liebert at [email protected]

SOURCE ARTICLE

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comment Rules

  • Please show respect to the opinions of others no matter how seemingly far-fetched.
  • Abusive, foul language, and/or divisive comments may be deleted without notice.
  • Each blog member is allowed limited comments, as displayed above the comment box.
  • Comments must be limited to the number of words displayed above the comment box.
  • Please limit one comment after any comment posted per post.