U.S. gives Shell final nod to drill for oil in Arctic

Source: Reuters

Green Business | Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:42pm EDT

U.S. gives Shell final nod to drill for oil in Arctic

WASHINGTON | BY TIMOTHY GARDNER

The Obama administration granted Royal Dutch Shell final clearance on Monday to resume drilling for oil and gas in the environmentally fragile Arctic Ocean for the first time since 2012, a move green groups vowed to fight.

The U.S. Department of the Interior permit allows Shell to drill in the oil-rich Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska. Shell interrupted its drilling program in the region in 2012 after suffering a series of mishaps, including losing control of an enormous rig, from which the Coast Guard had to rescue 18 workers.

Harsh conditions in the Chukchi have discouraged other oil companies from drilling there.

The go-ahead for Shell comes after repairs were completed to the Fennica, an icebreaker the company leases that carries emergency well-plugging equipment. The ship had suffered a gash in its hull after hitting uncharted shoals off southern Alaska.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/17/us-usa-shell-arctic-idUSKCN0QM1XL20150817