Royal Dutch Shell will resume drilling off Alaska after suspending operations for two years in the wake of an accident, the special U.S. envoy to the Arctic said on Monday, but gave no details as to when.
Shell has been moving oil rigs to Alaska as it awaits the green light from U.S. authorities. It froze operations in 2013 after the grounding of a rig in Alaska prompted protests from environmental groups.
“Clearly Shell and others will resume drilling and exploration up off the North Slope of Alaska,” Admiral Robert Papp said in an interview during a visit to Canada.
Papp, noting the accident had happened in December 2012 after that year’s drilling season had ended, said the Anglo-Dutch oil major understood the importance of taking all the necessary precautions.
“I think Shell is putting significant resources into this to make sure they have enough people, equipment, resources, redundancy. They should be OK,” he said.
Via reuters.com
image credit LATimes.com
