Shell set to launch Arctic exploration
Royal Dutch Shell is to launch a new exploration campaign in the Arctic in a bid to tap the region’s vast oil and gas reserves, the firm confirmed today.
The oil major intends to embark on a three-year drilling programme in the Beaufort Sea, which holds an estimated eight billion barrels of oil and 30 trillion cubic feet of gas.
A Shell spokeswoman said the company was working to obtain the required permits for operating in the Beaufort Sea, with three wells planned at the Sivulliq prospect first discovered by Shell more than 20 years ago.
Shell previously explored in the Beaufort Sea more than a decade ago, but the company is planning a return to the region as North Sea assets mature and its exploration technology improves.
The move to explore fresh regions comes as Shell faces operational problems elsewhere. The company’s performance has been impacted by security concerns in Nigeria, and it has halved its interests in the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project, after moves by Russian energy giant Gazprom.
Shell is now spending €2.2bn a year on exploration and around €738m on research into new production techniques after the company stunned the UK market in 2004 by downgrading its proven oil and gas reserves.
But the proposed field is 30 miles off the Alaskan coast and the company still has to reach an agreement with the local Inupiat Inuit inhabitants.
Whalers have also called on Shell to halt drilling in September to allow them to hunt along the Northern Alaskan coast, it was reported today.
The Shell spokeswoman added that protection of people and the environment were “top priorities”.
She said: “We are committed to long-term, sustainable relationships with the state of Alaska and its residents.”
The company posted profits of of €6.93bn (€5bn) for the first three months of 2007.
