Shell Oil (LSE:RDSA) is being told no by the government to drill for oil in the Artic. They were planning to drill five exploratory wells off of the coast of Alaska. The Justice Department defended this action just days ago but it was shut down by The Interior Department.
Shell is pointing out that they would have been drilling in much shallower water than the depth that Deepwater Horizon was drilling. They would only be drilling 150 feet verses the 5,000 feet BP is drilling at. The officials at Shell feel this move is totally political because of the disaster in the Gulf. Obama employed the Geological Survey which is supposed to determine the companies ability to respond, as well as determining the potential impact if they were to were to face the challenges of an oil spill like is currently being experienced.
Leaders of the Center For Biological Diversity are saying that they do not have the technology in the Artic if there were a massive oil spill. Which would be catastrophic for the entire ice environment, among several species including the polar bear.
The Mineral Management Services (MMS) say that there is approximately $27 billion barrels of oil in just the U.S. portion of the Artic. Obama feels the domestic exploration of oil would make the country less dependant on foreign oil as we pursue the transition to a cleaner oil.
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