The US Coast Guard (USCG) reported that the Noble Discoverer drillship has left the Port of Everett, Washington, in the early morning hours of 30 June, and is now Arctic-bound. Thus bringing Shell closer to its Chukchi Sea drilling season…
API encouraged congress and regulators to prioritize Arctic offshore oil and natural gas development as the House Natural Resources Committee prepared to hold a hearing on Arctic energy today (16 June). “Arctic oil and natural gas…
Thirteen activists in kayaks intercepted Shell's drilling rig, the Polar Pioneer, in Seattle's Puget Sound as the rig prepared to depart for the Arctic as part of Shell's US$1 billion Arctic exploration and drilling program. Kayaktivists…
Shell is on the brink of Arctic exploration after the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) approval of the US supermajor’s oil spill response plan (OSRP) on 11 June. The Noble Discoverer…
A total of 12 groups are challenging the US Department of Interior’s (DOI) decision to reaffirm the 2008 Chukchi Sea lease sale that will allow oil and gas drilling in a nearly 30 million acre area of the Chukchi Sea outer continental shelf (OCS)…
With a mean estimate of 23.6 billion bbl of undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, the Arctic could be one of the last big finds. Heather Saucier examines what is at stake on the US side. Source…
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is naming Shell as being ultimately responsible for the grounding of the Kulluk ice-class mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) in 2012 offshore Alaska, due to the company’s inadequate assessment of the risk for the towing…
Transocean’s Polar Pioneer has recently become the center of attention in Seattle. On 12 May 2015 a request was made by the Port of Seattle commissioners which asked Shell to postpone the rig’s move to the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5 while permitting issues are worked out…
Shell’s Executive Vice President, Arctic, Ann Pickard discussed the supermajor’s investment and current challenges facing its Arctic exploration program at this year’s Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston on 5 May 2015. In the summer of 2015…
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) granted conditional approval of Shell’s multi-year exploration plan for the Chukchi Sea today (11 May). The approval comes after what the agency described as a “comprehensive review.” Last month…
Shell released this video outlining its safety efforts for Arctic exploration. The company received conditional approval for its exploration plan in the Chukchi Sea on 11 May 2015. Shell is planning to spend US$1 billion to explore the Arctic…
The US Department of the Interior (DOI) is reviewing Shell's Arctic drilling plans, according to a recent Reuters report. On 31 March, DOI issued a record of decision affirming Shell’s Arctic leases from the Chukchi Sea OCS oil and gas lease sale 193 from 2008…
According to the United States Geological Survey, the area above the Arctic Circle holds approximately 90 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and an estimated 1,670 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of technically recoverable natural gas…
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released proposed regulations for exploratory drilling activities on the US Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) concerning exploratory…
Shell has its sights set for Arctic exploration this year by spending US$1 billion, after being absent since 2012. Ben Van Beurden. From Shell. The supermajor announced in its 4Q 2014…
