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BOEM asks Shell for more information Still has some questions about Chukchi Sea exploration plan; wants more details about Noble Discoverer oversight and air emissions Alan Bailey Petroleum News
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, wants some further details from Shell about its revised Chukchi Sea exploration plan, the agency notified the company on Jan. 14. Shell wants to restart exploration drilling in the Chukchi and in early November submitted a revised plan to BOEM for approval — Shell started the drilling of a Chukchi Sea well in 2012 under the terms of an earlier version of the plan.
The agency has to confirm that the revised plan is complete before initiating a public comment period as part of the plan approval process. On Nov. 29 the agency sent Shell some questions, spelling out a list of items that the agency considered to be missing from the plan.
Shell responded to those questions on Dec. 20. And in its Jan. 14 notification BOEM asked Shell for clarification of some of the points in Shell’s response.
Noble Discoverer BOEM requires more information relating to modifications and repairs to the Noble Discoverer, the drillship that Shell is chartering from Noble Corp. for the Chukchi Sea drilling. The U.S. Coast Guard had determined some safety and environmental non-compliance issues with the Noble Discoverer following Shell’s 2012 drilling season. The vessel had also suffered engine problems. The vessel has since undergone repair, upgrade and modification in an Asian shipyard.
BOEM says that it will accept a certificate of compliance from the U.S. Coast Guard as evidence that the deficiencies in the Noble Discoverer have been corrected. But the agency still wants Shell to explain how in future the company will apply adequate management oversight of the vessel, to ensure that any operational deficiencies are quickly detected and fixed.
Air emissions BOEM’s latest request for further information also includes a list of items relating to air emissions from Shell’s planned drilling operations. The agency has taken over air permitting for the Arctic outer continental shelf from the Environmental Protection Agency. But, rather than separately approving an air permit for Shell’s drilling project, BOEM will review Shell’s air emissions data for legal compliance as part of an overall review of the company’s exploration plan.
BOEM has, however, accepted Shell’s explanations regarding quite a few of the issues that the agency had raised, including questions regarding a reduced frequency of blowout preventer testing; a need for more detail about an expanded man camp planned for Barrow; and a need for more information about the Polar Pioneer, the semi-submersible drilling rig that Shell plans to station at Dutch Harbor, as a backup rig for relief-well drilling.
Integrated operations plan In addition to its exploration plan, in November Shell submitted to BOEM an integrated operations plan for its planned Chukchi Sea drilling — BOEM required Shell to file this plan as a consequence of one of the findings of a Department of the Interior review of the company’s 2012 Arctic exploration activities. BOEM has now completed its review of the integrated operations plan and has submitted a list of 14 comments on the plan, in addition to the request for further information on the exploration plan.
The comments include a request for a completion schedule for activities listed in the plan; a request for some further detail on decision-making authority in the event of unplanned interruptions to drilling operations; and a request for further clarification on lines of communication and accountability between Shell and its contractors — the Department of the Interior review criticized Shell’s management of the various contractors involved in its drilling program.
Shell hopes to restart its Chukchi Sea exploration drilling during the summer of 2014. However, the company has expressed some uncertainty about whether the restart will occur in 2014 or 2015 and has said that it will need to complete all of the necessary permitting for its latest drilling fleet before drilling can take place.
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