“We have every reason to believe the administration will permit 2011 exploration drilling in Alaska,” said Pete Slaiby, Shell Alaska vice president. “The president, himself, endorsed our Alaska exploration program last spring. Unfortunately, the Deepwater Horizon tragedy occurred and led to a suspension of offshore activities in Alaska. Since then, Shell has taken extraordinary steps to build confidence around our 2011 program, which involves a limited number of exploration wells in shallow water with unprecedented, on-site oil spill response capability.”
Slaiby today told reporters that the company may also apply to drill a second well at Sivulliq and that the company has not yet discounted the possibility of drilling in the Chukchi Sea in 2011. Shell is initially targeting the Beaufort Sea for its 2011 drilling plans because court cases in Alaska District Court and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, challenging the U.S. Minerals Management Service 2008 Chukchi Sea lease sale, remain unresolved, Slaiby said.