Drilling Off The Alaska Coast For The First Time In More Than Two Decades

Just in case you think the Obama administration has cut down on oil drilling:

More than four years after Royal Dutch Shell paid $2.8 billion to the federal government for petroleum leases in the Chukchi Sea, a company vessel on Sunday morning sent a drill bit into the ocean floor, beginning preliminary work on an exploratory well 70 miles off the northwest coast of Alaska…

“It’s the first time a drill bit has touched the sea floor in the U.S. Chukchi Sea in more than two decades,” Slaiby said in a prepared statement. “This is an exciting time for Alaska and for Shell. We look forward to continued drilling progress throughout the next several weeks and to adding another chapter to Alaska’s esteemed oil and gas history.”

Federal officials estimate Arctic waters in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas hold 26 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 130 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Aug. 30 that Shell would be permitted to begin preparation work at the Chukchi site even though the company’s spill response barge has not been certified and is not positioned nearby.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.