Shell Says Permit for Alaska Start Won’t Assure Well Completion
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Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it will be difficult to complete an exploratory well in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska this year even after the company received a permit to begin limited preparatory work.
Shell will be allowed to drill 1,400 feet under the seabed with the permit granted yesterday by the U.S. Interior Department. The company still needs U.S. Coast Guard approval for a spill-containment barge before a permit can be issued to drill about 4,000 feet deeper, into oil reservoirs.