Shell prepares Arctic drilling plan but is uncertain about 2014

[unhappycamper]

http://www.adn.com/2013/10/31/3151333/shell-prepares-arctic-offshore.html



An Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter delivers heavy equipment to the conical drilling unit Kulluk in Kiliuda Bay on January 7, 2013.

Shell prepares Arctic drilling plan but is uncertain about 2014
By DAN JOLING — Associated Press
Published: October 31, 2013

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Royal Dutch Shell PLC will submit an Arctic offshore exploration plan for waters off northern Alaska but has not made a final decision on whether to drill in 2014, the company announced Thursday.

Chief Financial Officer Henry Simon announced third quarter earnings and answered questions about 2014, according to a transcript of the press conference.

"Alaska is very much top of the priority list," he said.

The company will drill only in the Chukchi Sea of Alaska's northwest coast if the decision is made to move ahead in 2014, Simon said. The company does not have a drill vessel ready for the shallow Beaufort Sea off Alaska's north coast. The vessel used in 2012, the Kulluk, ran aground near Kodiak Island on its way to a shipyard after the drilling season last year and may never be used again, Simon said.