14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this month, Shell announced that, protests, fines and sheer back luck aside, it was looking into the possibility of resuming drilling activities in the Arctic. News on the topic says that the company is first interested in finishing work on a well that it started in 2012.
The well is located in the Chukchi Sea, off Alaska's coast and, for the time being, it is merely 1,500 feet (457 meters) deep. Should Shell have its way, it will not only be completed in the not so distant future, but it will also be joined by five others.
“It is anticipated that this work will take place over a number of drilling seasons,” the company explains in a revised exploration plan it has recently shared.
Oil Price tells us that Shell is yet to say for sure whether or not it will resume operations in the Chukchi Sea in 2014, or if maybe it will spend some more time getting ready for work in the dangerous and harsh conditions in the Arctic.
“We will continue to take a methodical approach to this exploration phase and will only proceed if the program meets the conditions necessary to proceed safely and responsibly,” Shell spokesperson Curtis Smith reportedly told the press.
“Our decision to resume exploration will be driven by our readiness to do so safely, not by the need to meet arbitrary timelines,” he went on to detail.
The company is expected to file an updated exploration plan in the following two weeks or so, and more information will probably soon become available to the public.
Since it got hooked on the idea of drilling in the Arctic and until present day, Shell has spent some $5 billion (€3.69 billion) trying to make its dream come true, and has had to deal with many legal issues stirred up by green groups.
Since environmentalists are anything but willing to allow the company to proceed with its plans and the Arctic will surely not turn oil companies-friendly overnight, odds are Shells' problems are far from being over.
“As other companies appear to recognize, they simply are not ready to operate in the harsh and remote Arctic Ocean environment. There is no proven technology that would allow companies to drill safely in Arctic Ocean conditions, and the risks outweigh any potential benefits,” Susan Murray with green group Oceana stresses.