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Kulluk leaves for Beaufort as Shell waits for containment barge
On Aug. 20 Shell’s floating drilling platform, the Kulluk, departed north from Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, heading for the Beaufort Sea, Shell spokesman Curtis Smith told Petroleum News in an Aug. 21 email. After reaching the Beaufort the Kulluk and its support vessels will remain on stand-by until after the end of the fall whale hunt, Smith said.
“After that time, and in anticipation of receiving the final permits needed to operate, the Kulluk will connect to several anchors that were recently staged over Shell’ prospects,” Smith said.
At the beginning of August Shell deployed three vessels north from Dutch Harbor to prepare drilling sites in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.
Shell is still waiting for completion of work on its containment barge, the Arctic Challenger, and U.S. Coast Guard certification of that vessel — contractor Superior Energy has been retrofitting the barge with an Arctic containment system that can collect oil from a leaking well in the unlikely event of a well blowout. Shell has said that it will probably take 14 to 18 days to move the barge up to the Arctic from Seattle, where the retrofit is being done.
Shell also needs drilling permits from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement before it can start drilling. Apparently the approval of those permits is contingent on certification of the Arctic Challenger. It is possible that the Kulluk could prepare the seafloor cellars for wellheads before the containment barge is ready, but that arrangement would need to be confirmed with the Department of the Interior, Smith said.
Noble Discover The Noble Discover, the drillship that Shell plans to use in the Chukchi Sea, is still at Dutch Harbor — the transit time from Dutch Harbor to the Chukchi is several days less than to the Beaufort, Smith said.
The Environmental Protection Agency has yet to issue a decision on a request by Shell for changes to the air permit for the Noble Discoverer — Shell will need some type of approval from the agency for those permit changes before the Noble Discoverer can drill in the Chukchi Sea.
Shell had originally hoped to send its Arctic drilling fleet north from Dutch Harbor in early July, with plans to drill up to three wells in the Chukchi Sea and up to two wells in the Beaufort Sea. However, following the delays to the start of the drilling, the company now plans to drill just two wells: one in the Chukchi and one in the Beaufort.
The company may also drill some top-hole sections for additional wells planned for completion next year. But that top-hole drilling, although it would be above the hydrocarbon bearing zones, would have to be done under the terms of a drilling permit. At this point Shell has not requested Interior for permission to drill top holes without the Arctic Challenger in place, Smith said.
—Alan Bailey
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