Judge suspends Arctic drilling, orders new environmental report
Extracts from a Los Angeles Times article by Paresh Dave published 24 April 2014
In the ongoing battle over offshore drilling, a federal judge in Alaska told regulators Thursday to redo an environmental impact study that underestimated the amount of recoverable oil and, potentially, the risks to delicate Arctic habitat. The decision by U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline stopped short of scrapping the $2.6 billion in leases, however. In light of the new analysis, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will have to decide whether to move forward with or cancel the agreed-upon leases with Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips and other companies.
RELATED: Extract from an AlaskaDispatch article by Yereth Rosen published 24 April 2014 published under the headline: “Judge orders new review for 2008 Chukchi Sea lease sale”
Shell sucked in to Russian gas pipeline politics
Extract from a Reuters article published Friday 25 April 2014 under the headline: “Russia’s Rosneft says Gazprom hinders its LNG project”
Last week, Putin approved expansion plans for an LNG plant, operated by Royal Dutch Shell and majority-owned by Gazprom, on the Pacific island of Sakhalin. Analysts have said that would hinder implementation of Rosneft and Exxon’s LNG project. Sechin told the meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, that both Gazprom, a monopoly owner of trunk pipelines, and Shell were denying his company access to a pipeline from Sakhalin to the mainland for the LNG project.
Royal Dutch Shell’s failed Arctic campaign
Extract from anoilprice.com article byNick Cunninghampublished 24 April 2014 under the headline: “Why Alaska Increasingly Resembles A Petro-State”
In an attempt to arrest the decline in oil production, Alaska’s legislature, governor, and representatives in Congress have aggressively supported offshore oil drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, which hold an estimated 29 billion barrels of oil. But Royal Dutch Shell’s failed Arctic campaign has doomed those hopes for now. Shell cancelled drilling plans for 2014 and hinted that it may not return next year. With new CEO Ben van Beurden’s decision to steer the company away from so-called “elephant projects,” the Arctic is seemingly not a priority.
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