Shell Submits Application for Permit to Drill in Alaska Offshore
HOUSTON, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell Offshore Inc., a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, has submitted an Application for a Permit to Drill one exploration well in the Beaufort Sea in 2011. The formal submission to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) is specifically for the shallow waters of Camden Bay and continues the regulatory process toward an approved summer drilling season.
In 2009, the BOEM approved Shell’s Offshore Alaska Plan of Exploration, which was challenged but then upheld by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in May of this year. Prior to approval, the BOEM completed a comprehensive Environmental Assessment and issued a ‘Finding of No Significant Impact,’ in which the agency concluded that Shell’s proposed drilling program would have no significant impact on the marine environment or resources of the Camden Bay area. The agency also determined Shell’s program would not negatively impact subsistence use of those resources.
“We have every reason to believe the Administration will permit 2011 exploration drilling in Alaska,” said Pete Slaiby, Shell Alaska Vice-President. “The President, himself, endorsed our Alaska exploration program last spring. Unfortunately, the Deepwater Horizon tragedy occurred and led to a suspension of offshore activities in Alaska. Since then, Shell has taken extraordinary steps to build confidence around our 2011 program, which involves a limited number of exploration wells in shallow water with unprecedented, on-site oil spill response capability. The Administration should approve Shell’s permits, put people to work, and move to validate what we believe is a valuable national resource base.”
Shell also notified the BOEM of its plan to gather drilling mud, cuttings and various drilling fluids at its Camden Bay well in 2011, which will further reduce Shell’s offshore footprint.
For its proposed operations, Shell has designed and equipped the most robust oil spill response system in the Arctic known to the industry, and, in accordance with the BOEM’s recent Notice to Lessees (2010-N06), Shell has further confirmed that the worst-case discharge volumes for its proposed Camden Bay well is lower than Alaska planning standards. While Shell planned its oil spill response system for larger discharge volumes, the new calculation will not decrease the response system’s capabilities.
Shell has also confirmed its commitment to engineer an oil spill containment system, which is designed to capture hydrocarbons at the source in the extremely unlikely event of a shallow water blowout. The containment system will remain staged in Alaska and allow for rapid, on-site recovery for shallow offshore wells in extremely cold water.
"It’s our hope required approvals will come in time for us to begin planning a 2011 drilling season,” said Slaiby. “We are now five years into some of our ten-year lease agreements. Further delays will only serve to jeopardize jobs and the future development of US oil and gas reserves critical to our Nation’s energy security.”
Royal Dutch Shell plc
Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 100 countries with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production, production and marketing of Liquefied Natural Gas and Gas to Liquids, manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals, and renewable energy projects including wind and solar power. For further information, visit www.shell.com and www.shell.us.
Cautionary Note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this press release refer to companies in which Royal Dutch Shell either directly or indirectly has control, by having either a majority of the voting rights or the right to exercise a controlling influence. The companies in which Shell has significant influence but not control are referred to as "associated companies" or "associates" and companies in which Shell has joint control are referred to as "jointly controlled entities". In this press release, associates and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as "equity-accounted investments". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for example, through our 34% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''will'', ''seek'', ''target'', ''risks'', ''goals'', ''should'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this press release, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for the Group's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserve estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including potential litigation and regulatory effects arising from recategorisation of reserves; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2008 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These factors also should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, October 6, 2010. Neither Royal Dutch Shell nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We use certain terms in this press release that SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.
SOURCE Shell Oil Company
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