Shell may get federal permits for Alaska

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Shell may soon get the permits necessary to start drilling into potential oil basins in an exploration well off the coast of Alaska, a federal regulator said.

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement granted permission to Shell in July to drill two wells in the arctic waters off the Alaskan coast. BSEE said the permits excluded drilling into oil-bearing zones because Shell lacks a capping stack, a critical piece of safety equipment, positioned near drilling sites to continue beyond the exploratory phase.

Shell's early efforts off the coast of Alaska were plagued by equipment issues. Shell last month discovered a small breach in the hull of MV Fennica, chartered to carry the safety equipment to the Chukchi Sea. A drill ship slated for offshore Alaska, Noble Discoverer, suffered a series of setbacks during a 2012 campaign off the coast of Alaska.

After vessel repairs in Oregon, the vessel is on its way back to Shell's drilling grounds in a region dubbed the Burger prospect. With that, the BSEE was quoted by energy news website Argus as saying Shell could receive the necessary permits to drill into oil-bearing zones in the "very near future."

Shell's campaign has been a source of frustration for environmental groups and some U.S. lawmakers. When the federal government gave limited consent to Shell to start drilling operations off the coast of Alaska earlier this month, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said Shell's campaign was "fruitless."