Arctic Ocean

Responding to a series of high-profile incidents involving its assets for Arctic Ocean offshore drilling, Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced a “pause” in its 2013 drilling program in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas Wednesday. The decision comes the day after the conical drilling unit Kulluk, which suffered hull damage in a New Year's Eve grounding off Sitkalidak Island near Kodiak, was taken under tow by three tugs for a 10-day trip to Dutch Harbor. After being transferred to a drydock, the Kulluk will then head to Asia for repairs.

by The Associated Press Thursday, May 27, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Obama administration decision to delay drilling in the Arctic Ocean drew swift negative reaction from Alaska's congressional delegation but praise from environmental groups. The president Thursday said he was suspending planned exploration drilling off the coast of Alaska. Shell Oil has been poised to begin exploratory drilling this summer in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. U.S. Rep. Rep. Don Young of Alaska calls the no-drilling decision a response to the hysteria of interest groups that want to cripple the nation.

Alaska's natural resources continues to stir energy discussions with 2 big developments: Natural Gas and Arctic Drilling.    First, a topic that suddenly seems to be getting more attention than usual: Proposals for that long-awaited Natural Gas Pipeline from the North Slope. Former Governor Frank Murkowski told a luncheon Monday in downtown Anchorage that he backs a proposal for a large-diameter "All-Alaska" pipeline project -- leading to an LNG Terminal either in Valdez or Cook Inlet.

by Dan Joling The Associated Press Saturday, July 24, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Oceanographers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks are getting ready to install a device designed to provide alternative energy for scientific instruments along the Arctic Coast. Their "remote power module" is equipped with four wind turbines and solar panels. Wind and solar energy will provide five days' worth of battery charge. If batteries get low, the module recharges using a biodiesel generator.

by The Associated Press Friday, March 12, 2010 JUNEAU, Alaska -- Rep. Mike Kelly wants to open up the 414-mile Dalton Highway and the public land around it to snowmachining. The House Transportation Committee began hearings Thursday on the Fairbanks Republican's bill. It would lift a snowmachine ban seven months of the year on roughly 4,000 square miles of land centered on the highway, which runs from interior Alaska to the Arctic Ocean. Other off-road vehicles would still be banned year-round.

by The Associated Press Tuesday, March 16, 2010 JUNEAU, Alaska -- A House subcommittee to meet Wednesday will seek middle ground on a proposal to open roughly 4,000 square miles of public land to snowmachining. A bill by Fairbanks Republican Rep. Mike Kelly would lift a snowmachine ban seven months of the year on land centered on the Dalton Highway. The highway runs 414 miles from interior Alaska to the Arctic Ocean. Other off-road vehicles would remain banned year-round.

by Dan Joling Associated Press Writer Wednesday, July 21, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A federal judge says the federal government failed to follow environmental law before it sold billions in petroleum leases in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast. The lease sale in February 2008 garnered nearly $2.7 billion for the federal government from the sale of 2.76 million acres in Arctic Ocean waters, including $2.1 billion in high bids submitted by Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline ruled Wednesday that the Minerals Management Service failed to analyze the environmental effect of natural gas development despite industry interest.

by Christine Kim Wednesday, March 31, 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Obama administration's announcement Wednesday of its plans for offshore U.S. oil and gas exploration will strongly affect Alaska's Arctic Ocean coastline and the Bristol Bay region. The expansion of Outer Continental Shelf development gives Alaska's largest-grossing lease sale clearance to continue its plans for drilling. "This was one of the important milestones on our continual effort to mobilize a drilling ship into the Chukchi or the Beaufort (seas)

What could drilling do to the Arctic Ocean?  That's what an expanded environmental impact statement is looking into. In March, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a second draft study of oil and gas activities in the arctic and is now seeking public comment.  The 1,500-page study explores the effects of offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic Ocean, including exploratory drilling and geological geophysical surveys in the Chuchki and Beaufort seas.   “It looks at multiple activities over multiple years and evaluates their effects on marine mammals, on subsistence uses of those marine mammals and looks at different levels of activity,” said Jolie Harrison of the NMFS.

This morning, (Sunday) Shell Oil has begun conducting an historic operation in the Chukchi Sea. For the first time in more than two decades, the company has started drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean -70 miles off the coast of Northwestern Alaska. It happened at 4:30 A.M., Alaska Daylight Time - when the drill bit first touched the sea floor. The last time that Shell drilled the "Burger Prospect" was way back in 1991. Back then, the Chukchi Sea showed huge promise for oil, but it could not be drilled commercially.