By Jennifer A. Dlouhy: Updated 10:59 p.m., Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Two Shell Oil Co. drilling rigs have begun their long treks to Arctic waters, where they are expected to begin boring five exploratory oil wells later this summer.
The departure marks a final phase in Shell’s seven-year quest to drill in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska. Although the company is still awaiting final drilling permits to launch the work, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters on Tuesday that those approvals are probable.
Shell spokeswoman Kelly op de Weegh confirmed that the drilling rigs and support vessels have left the Seattle shipyard where they underwent hundreds of millions of dollars in renovations to prepare them for the planned drilling.
Shell plans to station the Kulluk conical drilling unit in the Beaufort Sea and the Noble Discoverer drillship in the Chukchi Sea.
But with thick layers of ice still clinging to Alaska’s northern coastline, the ships won’t go to the Arctic seas immediately. Instead, they will lay over 1,000 miles to the south in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, as they wait for the ice to clear.
