April date for Beaufort Sea oral arguments

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has set an April 2 date for oral arguments in an appeal against Bureau of Ocean Energy Management approval of Shell’s Beaufort Sea exploration plan. Shell plans to drill up to four wells in the Beaufort Sea, starting in 2012, with those wells targeting the Sivulliq and Torpedo prospects on the west side of Camden Bay, to the east of Prudhoe Bay.

BOEM had conditionally approved Shell’s plan in early August but in late September the Native Village of Point Hope and 12 environmental organizations appealed the plan, saying that the agency’s approval decision violated both the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Briefs in the case were filed in January.

—Alan Bailey