by Mike Ross
Monday, May 17, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Shell Oil is promising to take additional safeguards in its plans to drill in Alaska's Arctic waters.
The extra precautions are outlined in a letter from Shell's president to the director of the federal Minerals Management Service. The Interior Department demanded that Shell outline how it plans to prevent a spill like the one in the Gulf of Mexico from occurring in Alaska.
Shell says conditions for drilling this summer in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas will be much different than the Deepwater Horizon operation off Louisiana.
The company says in response to the Gulf spill, it will double the frequency of blowout preventer device testing from twice a month to weekly. It will also consider adding more shear rams to cut the drilling pipe and block the flow of oil if there's a problem.
