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Arctic Drilling Future Now Rests On One Well
Submitted by Charles Kennedy via OilPrice.com,
Royal Dutch Shell is nearing a start to drilling in the Arctic, but has run into some hiccups.
The U.S. government decided that Shell cannot actually drill both of its wells in the Chukchi Sea as planned. The Interior Department said that doing so would run afoul of its rules that protect marine life. According to those regulations, which were issued in 2013, exploration companies cannot drill two wells within 15 miles of each other. Shell had planned to drill two wells in the Burger prospect within a 9 mile range.
Environmental groups hoped that the Interior Department would throw out Shell’s drilling plan altogether, owing to the fact that the environmental assessment the agency conducted was based on the two-well drilling plan, according to Jennifer Dlouhy of Fuel Fix. Environmental groups argued that since the Interior Department didn’t actually conduct an assessment of a drilling plan consisting of just one well, the entire drilling program should be scrapped.
Interior didn’t buy these arguments, but still ruled that Shell can only drill one well this summer. Shell reiterated that it would move forward with drilling the lone well in the Arctic this year, having committed around $1 billion for the program.
Shell announced that it expects to be able to begin drilling by the third week in July after sea ice has melted sufficiently. Shell is still awaiting one last federal permit before it can begin drilling, and it is also awaiting the arrival of its second drilling rig in Alaska.
Separately, several oil companies recently announced that they were putting their Arctic plans on ice. A joint venture between Imperial Oil, ExxonMobil, and BP decided to shelve plans for exploration in the Canadian Arctic. They had permits that will expire in 2019 and 2020, and the group says that they will not be able to drill before then. More research is needed and since the companies are running out of time, they have decided to suspend work and lobby the Canadian government for an extension.
Last year Chevron decided to suspend its plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea after the collapse in oil prices made doing so unattractive. The move by Imperial and its partners likely puts any significant drilling in the Canadian Arctic on hold indefinitely.
As such, Arctic drilling in North America will come down to Shell’s one well in the Chukchi Sea.
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All's well... Pardon thee pun.
How can this be happening?
I sent a letter to President Obama telling him to call this off, nothing but trouble...
This story is a big . . . nothing. So what?
What family has the most control of RD Shell? Something is pinging in the back of my mind and it's ring-ring-ring-Rothschild. If my decrepit memory is shot, someone will whack me back in line. If it's correct this is a significant head fake to the Enviro Wackos and the the drilling will commence as soon as the economics permit.
I shouldn't post this on such flimsy evidence but I may be right.
Anyway, I believe it could be a significant event.
Drill Baby Drill. Yea, I need the winter work, lets do this !
One rig can drill laterally 360 degrees for many miles so it might pay out for them.
I bet they double seasonally adjust the findings to show gazillions of barrels below.
At least Shell signed that $10B shale deal with Ukraine.
I'm sure that'll work out well for them.
Look ! It's Joe Biden's other son!
lol
The title of this article should really end with an additional two words:
"Arctic Drilling Future Now Rests On One Well, for Now...."
They know the structures are right or they would not be drilling in the first place.
They know the oil is not going anywhere.
At some point in the not so distant future global prices will ramp back up.
And around and around we go.
Or< Stay tuned for the next .gov financed coup.
Who are the Maiden snipers going to kill in the Arctic? Are there Nazis up there to form a government?
Where there's fiatskis(pun) to be made... There will be conflicts.
Russia has over 35% (citation needed) of the Arctic Sea shore.
It will take more than Victoria Noodleman in a polar bear outfit and a satchel full of herring cookies to get things started.
Thar she beau's!!!!!
The one who should have gotten brain cancer and died instead.
Plans put on ice. (Just the messenger)
Sweet, hope it fails too so no arctic drilling.
Two things:
First, I didn't think there was any more ice in the Arctic.
Second, Russia will have no problem drilling in the Arctic.
Cool. I wonder if the Russians and Chinese will honor USA's wildlife protection rulings.
Yeah sure. Amerikans wil talk until the cows come home, Pussified Amerika
International competition is unilateral retreat. They only way we can be sure we are playing fair with others is to surrender.
Capitulation with only one price, that of a commitment to corruption. Its the only way we can be sure we have successfully spread democracy.
if there is economically viable oil, eventually humans will get it. environMENTALism is only temporary...
USA's wildlife rulings are like USA's Glass-Steagall protections. They are on the books until they get in the way.
DUH
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, Shell AK 2012, and would do it again any time.
"Fuck The EU!!!!"
Arrest the owners of the oil companies and redistribute their stolen wealth.
Arrest everyone who works for the government and redistribute their stolen wealth.
Arrest all environmentalist assclowns and execute them. Then redistribute their wealth.
Grimaldus
Hey, c'mon now.
You gotta think big. Bigger than that.
Arrest them. Confiscate their wealth. Use the money to build nuclear power plants, coal mines and toxic waste storage facilities next to their parents' homes-- and "employ" them personally in the construction and operation thereof.
When they get too old to work, chain them to a slab of solar panels and broil them to death prior to feeding them to starving rats.
Which are thus fattened up as a food supply for the new work force.
Think of it as Soylent Greenest.
and your are bing nice today, ha-agreed, derranged mutha fuks...
enviro wack jobs- gp plez stick your head in a tree chipper, or better yet a stump grinder
understand that the human species is terminal animal hellbent on self destruction, unstopable, so why not liv the best existence today, fuck tomorrow, cause why give a shit, majority can not steer a rudderless ship anyways.
go fuk a duk
What is the point of this article?
to remind us that there is a glut of oil which Washington knew about in 2013 (or before) when it put the "no two wells within 15 miles of each other"
To demonstrate to the other Arctic Nations: Russia, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Igor (Canada) how wonderfully concerned America is about the environment so to prevent other Arctic nations from drilling so there will be more oil in the ground when the US takes over the world.
Shell get permission after they have abandonded their plans to drill in Iran :)
One well is much better than no wells for the likes of Shell.
This is all about getting some hands on experience of the technical difficulties involved. They will drill this first well very cautiously, review all of the learnings, and then submit an application for dozens of additional wells based on their new "Look, we can do it" record.
Once they prove they know what they are doing, they'll get an invite from Vlad to come and drill his back yard too.
After the way Halliburton came out of the Macondo disaster smelling of roses with a cursory slap on the wrist for "destroying evidence" while European pension funds got dicked for $50bn via BP costs, I'd be surprised if any of Big Oil would get into bed with them again in a hurry.
David Attenborough in a Obama meeting for kiddies mentioned the environment.
OBAMA whose environmental record is one of the worse possible seems to think a bit late that THIS is how he will be remembered when our kids are battling the elements.
David Attenborough in a Obama meeting for kiddies mentioned the environment.
OBAMA whose environmental record is one of the worse possible seems to think a bit late that THIS is how he will be remembered when our kids are battling the elements.
"Iraqi Oil belongs to the Iraqi People.. "
American Oil belongs to Exxon...
how many soldiers died over that Bullshit
Not as many as were horribly injured.
TPP to the rescue. No worries just sue the government... I mean taxpayer... and get your money and you dont even have to drill... how easy is that...
What's the EROEI on one of these puppies?