By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Washington Bureau Published 7:29 pm, Friday, April 5, 2013
Lessons learned from Shell’s problem-plagued 2012 Arctic drilling operations will apply not just to that company’s future work in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, but to Houston-based ConocoPhillips and other firms with leases in those waters, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says.
That could include ensuring that the firms have access to specialized oil spill containment equipment or do a better job broadly assessing and managing risks in the remote region north of Alaska. A high-level Interior Department probe of Shell’s program last month concluded the company did not sufficiently oversee and manage an array of contractors and seemed to focus on complying with regulations rather than holistically managing risks.