THE EXPLORERS 2007: ConocoPhillips drops 300,000 acres 11/18/2007
Major and its independent partners focused on appraising previously announced NPR-A discoveries
ConocoPhillips Alaska's exploration program reached into far western NPR-A last winter, 2006-07. In 2007-08 the company plans to drill closer in, with proposed exploration wells - the program had not...

Court nixes drilling 08/19/2007
9th Circuit order kills Beaufort drilling this year, Shell reviewing options
Shell has crossed several major hurdles in its attempt to start an exploration drilling program in the Beaufort Sea during the 2007 open water season. But the latest obstacle, an Aug. 15 court order f...

Palin opposed to beluga whale listing 08/12/2007
Gov. Sarah Palin said listing the Cook Inlet beluga whales as endangered would cause serious long-term damage to the area's economy. Palin submitted her comments to the National Marine Fisheries Servi...

Two steps closer 08/05/2007
Shell, whalers sign agreement, Beaufort Sea ACMP determination final
Shell can check two more items off its to-do list for its planned 2007 Beaufort Sea drilling program. On July 24 the company finally signed a conflict avoidance agreement with the Alaska Eskimo Whalin...

9th Circuit suspends Shell Beaufort Sea drilling program 07/29/2007
On July 19 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit placed a temporary hold on Shell's 2007 Beaufort Sea drilling program while the court considers a motion to stay the program until the court ru...

Alaska industry groups issue action alerts 07/22/2007
RDC, Alliance ask members to oppose NMFS' proposal to list Cook Inlet belugas as endangered species, contend numbers increasing
The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a proposed rule that would put Cook Inlet's beluga whales on the endangered species list, a move industry groups say may have severe economic impacts t...

Still more hurdles 07/22/2007
NSB, Earth Justice appeal EPA permit; Shell remains firm on Beaufort plans
Anyone who's placed bets on whether or not Shell will drill any exploration wells in the Beaufort Sea this summer must be having some sleepless nights. In the latest twist in the "will they, won't the...

Good news for Bristol Bay leasing 06/24/2007
Pro-drilling forces see Congressman's call for more studies as move toward responsible oil and gas development in sensitive area
Though a Democratic congressman has succeeded in getting language calling for more study of oil and gas development in Bristol Bay into an energy bill in Congress, leasing proponents are breathing sig...

FWS wants incidental take regs for Chukchi 06/10/2007
New regulations from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service anticipate offshore, onshore seismic surveys and drilling operations in area
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently published in the Federal Register a proposal to introduce new regulations for authorizing the incidental take of walrus and polar bears during oil and gas e...

Cook Inlet belugas: decline or not? 05/13/2007
The question of whether or not the beluga whales are heading for extinction revolves around the reliability of population data
It seems that everyone involved in the debate about the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service's proposed listing of the Cook Inlet beluga whales as an endangered species wants to see the population o...

Beluga ESA listing prompts debate 04/29/2007
Resource groups challenge National Marine Fisheries Service's data, proposal; question value of endangered species classification
The sparks are flying following the National Marine Fisheries Service's announcement that the agency proposes listing the Cook Inlet beluga whales as an endangered species. (See initial story in the A...

Inlet belugas tagged for endangered list 04/22/2007
The National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing to list Cook Inlet beluga whales as an endangered species, environmental groups that petitioned for the listing said April 19. The listing is expecte...

Programmatic EIS under way for seismic in Chukchi, Beaufort 04/22/2007
MMS, National Marine Fisheries Service have draft PEIS out for seismic in Arctic waters
The U.S. Minerals Management Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service have published a draft programmatic environmental impact statement "to describe and analyze the potential significant env...

Shell drops LNG plans in Louisiana 04/08/2007
Offshore facility in Gulf faced opposition over environmental issues, but import capacity seems adequate for available supplies
Royal Dutch Shell has dropped plans for a liquefied natural gas import facility 38 miles south of Louisiana's Cameron Parish, citing the substantial capacity already available for importing liquef...

Supplement to BIF issued for Inlet sale 02/25/2007
The state's Cook Inlet areawide 2007 oil and gas lease sale will be held May 23 in Anchorage. The Alaska Division of Oil and Gas said Feb. 21 that the commissioner of Natural Resources has issued a s...

Shell building legacy 02/25/2007
Alaska 2007 program takes shape; environment, communities high priorities
A flurry of government regulatory filings and announcements in February provides the most visible sign that the clock is ticking towards 2007 field activity in Shell's exploration program for offshore...

Shell proposes 18 wells 02/04/2007
Company's MMS exploration plan targets 2 Camden Bay prospects, August drilling
Shell Offshore Inc. has filed with the U.S. Minerals Management Service the company's exploration plan for oil and gas leases in the eastern part of the U.S. Beaufort Sea outer continental shelf. The...

Shell flags intent to test winter seismic in Beaufort 01/21/2007
In a Jan. 12 letter to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Shell Exploration and Production Co. gave notice of its intent to carry out a research program, to investigate the feasibility of sei...

THE EXPLORERS 2006 - Shell plans four Beaufort wells in '07 11/12/2006
Two wells at Siv Ullig, two at another location north of Camden Bay; seismic planned in Chukchi, Beaufort
Rick Fox, Shell's new asset manager for Alaska, said in late February 2006 that Shell was "ambitious about Alaska." He wasn't jesting. The mega-major returned to Alaska in March 2005 and shortly ther...

Bridging the Eskimo, oil culture gap 11/05/2006
The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission seeks mutual understanding between the oil industry and subsistence hunters
The loss of land previously available for subsistence hunting, together with the impact of industrial noise on offshore hunting, form just two of the issues that are causing unease about the oil and g...

Patrolling the Arctic 11/05/2006
Unmanned aerial vehicles studied for use in monitoring of remote Arctic seas
With heightened interest in offshore oil and gas exploration coinciding with elevated awareness of the need to protect marine wildlife, oil companies are scrambling to find ways of meeting government-...

Shell plans 4 Beaufort wells in '07 10/29/2006
Two wells at Siv Ullig and two at another location north of Camden Bay; seismic planned for the Chukchi and Beaufort
Shell is moving ahead with its exploration plans for the northern Alaska outer continental shelf. At the National Marine Fisheries Service's annual Arctic Open Water Peer Review Meeting on Oct. 24 She...

MMS issues Chukchi EIS 10/22/2006
Draft says only feasible way to export Chukchi gas is via North Slope pipeline
It has been more than a year since the U.S. Minerals Management Service announced that it would evaluate a possible oil and gas lease sale in the Chukchi Sea outer continental shelf. The agency has no...

Chukchi Sea seismic a go 09/24/2006
Temporary injunction granted on need for 120-dB monitoring zone in Conoco lawsuit
When ConocoPhillips, Shell and GX Technologies embarked on their summer 2006 seismic programs in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas it seemed that the various stakeholders in the Arctic offshore environmen...

MMS issues EA for seismic programs 08/20/2006
Environmental assessment for Chukchi, Beaufort Sea stipulates protections for wildlife, requires a conflict avoidance agreement
The U.S. Minerals Management Service has published its final programmatic environmental assessment (or PEA) for seismic surveys in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The agency has prepared the PEA in res...