Shell under further pressure over potential safety failings in Alaska

Over the New Year Shell’s Kulluk oil drilling rig came close to a major accident raising concerns again about off-shore oil exploration in extremely hostile environments.  At the time the oil rig was on its way to Seattle for maintenance when it came adrift in fierce winds, it was re-floated on Sunday- the problem would appear to be that as with deep-water drilling the technology is still very much in development.

Alaska is already a huge source of oil and gas due to BP’s Prudhoe Bay, which was discovered in 1968. But most of the production at this site is onshore and therefore there is much less risk of an environmental catastrophe.

Shell has invested around $4.5bn in Alaskan exploration over the past few years, from it’s annual $32bn spend on exploration and the development of new fields.

The main operators in Alaska are ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips.

This latest incident is under investigation by the US Coast Guard and has led to calls from environmental groups for further and much tougher controls on oil exploration in Alaska.

Further information at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4667964e-5688-11e2-aa70-00144feab49a.html#axzz2HNH3bzr4

John Ditchfield (co-Chair of EIA SG)