A Narrow Opening for Arctic Oil

New York Times ^ | MAY 12, 2015 | NYT EDITORIAL BOARD

[thackney]

...Shell acquired the lease for just over $2 billion in 2008, and, absent a very good reason, the government felt obliged to approve it.

Shell will be bound by safeguards that did not exist seven years ago. Several factors — including lawsuits and vigorous lobbying by environmental groups, widespread public dismay caused by the 2010 BP oil spill, and Shell’s ineptitude in earlier trial runs — have led the government to devise rules that are likely to make this project safer than it would have been.

Shell is seeking to drill up to six exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea about 70 miles off the North Slope. These would be shallow wells, 140 feet or so, far less than 5,000-plus feet of BP’s Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company has invested about $6 billion into its offshore Alaskan exploration program, without completing a single well. Estimates of recoverable offshore Alaskan reserves, in the Chukchi and nearby Beaufort Sea, range as high as 30 billion barrels of oil, about four years’ worth of consumption in the United States....

In 2012, the Obama administration gave Shell a tentative go-ahead after insisting on various safeguards, including a fully tested well-capping system that could quickly contain a blowout. But what Shell hoped would be its first drilling season produced a string of mishaps: the Coast Guard found defects in the company’s containment barge, meant to hold oil in the event of a spill; one of Shell’s two drilling rigs nearly ran aground; air quality violations were discovered on both rigs; the dome meant to contain a blowout at the wellhead was “crushed like a beer can.” On New Year’s Eve, a second drilling rig ran aground the during a fierce storm in the Gulf of Alaska.

[Teacher317]

But what Shell hoped would be its first drilling season produced a string of mishaps: the Coast Guard found defects in the company’s containment barge, meant to hold oil in the event of a spill; one of Shell’s two drilling rigs nearly ran aground; air quality violations were discovered on both rigs; the dome meant to contain a blowout at the wellhead was “crushed like a beer can.” On New Year’s Eve, a second drilling rig ran aground the during a fierce storm in the Gulf of Alaska.

Let's parse this...

the Coast Guard found defects in the company’s containment barge, meant to hold oil in the event of a spill... IF there's a spill, the barge that prevents loss (companies do not like loss) has an unnamed "defect", which could be anything from not enough fenders (old tires that protect the sides of a ship) to some OSHA violation on ladders... It says nothing about its ability to contain a spill IF it ever happened.

One of Shell’s two drilling rigs nearly ran aground... I nearly hit a car in the parking lot yesterday, as I was backing out. "Nearly" means nothing happened.

a second drilling rig ran aground the during a fierce storm in the Gulf of Alaska... the first one did NOT run aground, and the second was the fault of Mother Nature. There's not much on earth that can withstand "fierce storms".

air quality violations were discovered on both rigs... the article openly admits the EPA is all over this project, and "air quality violations" are among the easiest to "find". A solid percentage of our cars would also be in violation under the standards used here, I'm sure.

the dome meant to contain a blowout at the wellhead was “crushed like a beer can... Not sure if you've ever been on a drill site, but lots and lots of equipment is not in new condition. If the dome still was able to contain a blowout, then its shape and aesthetics are irrelevant.

[thackney]

One of Shell’s two drilling rigs nearly ran aground... I nearly hit a car in the parking lot yesterday, as I was backing out. "Nearly" means nothing happened.

On the first "nearly" ran aground, Shells claim it didn't ground after they lost control is reasonably questioned.

Shell Drill Ship Runs Aground in Unalaska
http://kucb.org/news/article/shell-drill-ship-runs-aground-in-unalaska/

Shell’s drilling ship Noble Discoverer dragged anchor in a stiff breeze Saturday evening and the stern of the vessel bumped into the beach in front of Dutch Harbor’s Grand Aleutian Hotel. After an hour stuck on the beach the large vessel was pulled free by the tug Lauren Foss.

At the time of the grounding Shell’s drilling rig Kulluk was being towed by the Aiviq into Captain’s Bay, headed for it’s mooring at OSI. The tug Gyrfalcon was pulled off the Kulluk to assist with the Noble Discoverer. At that time the Aiviq, Shell’s new icebreaker, changed direction and began towing the Kulluk back out to sea.

http://dutchharbortelegraph.com/noble-discoverer-on-the-beach-p489-1.htm

I am encouraged by Shell's work. From my perspective they are a quality company with a strong commitment to safety. That said, they had some significant problems in the previous attempts.

a second drilling rig ran aground the during a fierce storm in the Gulf of Alaska... the first one did NOT run aground, and the second was the fault of Mother Nature. There's not much on earth that can withstand "fierce storms".

Working in this environment, means being prepared for normal storms in the area. It wasn't some monster storm that happens once a century. It was a typical, seasonal strong storm.

I've followed Shell's progress pretty closely. They bought these leases while I was living in Alaska, working Alaska North Slope oil projects.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/04/140404-coast-guard-blames-shell-in-kulluk-rig-accident/

The Coast Guard concluded that Shell made an ill-advised decision to tow its drill rig away from the state, a 1,700-nautical-mile journey across the northern Gulf of Alaska in the final days of December 2012, in part to avoid millions of dollars in tax liability. Under state law, the tax would be assessed on January 1, 2013 if the vessel was still in Alaska waters, the Coast Guard report noted.

The Kulluk could not move under its own power, but had to be towed. The Coast Guard detailed the missteps aboard its tow ship, the Aiviq, and how its fuel tanks were improperly configured, leading to contamination, most likely by seawater. According to the Coast Guard report, the Aiviq tow master sent an email to the Kulluk tow master before the journey: "To be blunt I believe that this length of tow, at this time of year, in this location, with our current routing guarantees an ass kicking."

[Teacher317]

Awesome input! Thanks!