ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An appeals court has vacated a decision that blocked Shell Oil's planned exploratory drilling program in the Beaufort Sea, but representatives of the company and the environmental and Native groups challenging the development said Monday they had no indication whether any change in policy would result.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a two-page order issued Friday, said it will replace its November 20 ruling with a new opinion.
That November ruling found that the U.S. Minerals Management Service failed to adequately review environmental impacts when it authorized Shell's plan for exploring its Sivulliq prospect and other sites in the Beaufort Sea.
The court said MMS must start over with its review of Shell's exploration program, which envisioned drilling of up to a dozen wells over three years.
Shell canceled its 2009 drilling program in response to the decision, though it is hoping to pick up the drilling program next year. The drilling had been initially planned to begin in 2007, but a series of interim rulings from the appeals court prevented the program from starting.
Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the company had no indication whether the court's latest order means it has changed its opinion about the issue.
"It's difficult to know what the intent of this decision could mean. Obviously, we disagreed with the Court's original ruling that vacated MMS's approval of our plan of exploration, Smith said in an email.
"While we await the new opinion from the Court, we will continue to engage with the communities on the North Slope about our exploration plans," he added.
Already, Shell has responded to requests from locals on the North Slope and redesigned its 2010 drilling program so that it will use only one rig instead of two, Smith said.
An attorney representing the environmentalists declined to draw conclusions from the order.
"I don't think we'll know what it means until we see a revised opinion from the court," said Eric Jorgensen, a Juneau-based attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, which is representing some of the drilling opponents.
"From our perspective, the facts haven't changed. The Bush administration approved the drilling plan without doing a careful review of the impact on bowhead whales and the people of the region," he said.
Shell's Sivulliq exploration is part of the company's aggressive play to develop oil and gas in federally managed regions of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska. The areas are believed to be rich in oil and gas, but are remote and have seen little development to date.
Shell spent $2.1 billion last year for exploration rights in the remote Chukchi Sea, which lies off Alaska's northwest coast, on top of a combined $83.7 million spent to acquire Beaufort Sea exploration rights in MMS lease sales held in 2005 and 2008.
The MMS estimates the Beaufort Sea holds 8.2 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 27.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The agency estimates the Chukchi holds 15.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 76.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a two-page order issued Friday, said it will replace its November 20 ruling with a new opinion.
That November ruling found that the U.S. Minerals Management Service failed to adequately review environmental impacts when it authorized Shell's plan for exploring its Sivulliq prospect and other sites in the Beaufort Sea.
The court said MMS must start over with its review of Shell's exploration program, which envisioned drilling of up to a dozen wells over three years.
Shell canceled its 2009 drilling program in response to the decision, though it is hoping to pick up the drilling program next year. The drilling had been initially planned to begin in 2007, but a series of interim rulings from the appeals court prevented the program from starting.
Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said the company had no indication whether the court's latest order means it has changed its opinion about the issue.
"It's difficult to know what the intent of this decision could mean. Obviously, we disagreed with the Court's original ruling that vacated MMS's approval of our plan of exploration, Smith said in an email.
"While we await the new opinion from the Court, we will continue to engage with the communities on the North Slope about our exploration plans," he added.
Already, Shell has responded to requests from locals on the North Slope and redesigned its 2010 drilling program so that it will use only one rig instead of two, Smith said.
An attorney representing the environmentalists declined to draw conclusions from the order.
"I don't think we'll know what it means until we see a revised opinion from the court," said Eric Jorgensen, a Juneau-based attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, which is representing some of the drilling opponents.
"From our perspective, the facts haven't changed. The Bush administration approved the drilling plan without doing a careful review of the impact on bowhead whales and the people of the region," he said.
Shell's Sivulliq exploration is part of the company's aggressive play to develop oil and gas in federally managed regions of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska. The areas are believed to be rich in oil and gas, but are remote and have seen little development to date.
Shell spent $2.1 billion last year for exploration rights in the remote Chukchi Sea, which lies off Alaska's northwest coast, on top of a combined $83.7 million spent to acquire Beaufort Sea exploration rights in MMS lease sales held in 2005 and 2008.
The MMS estimates the Beaufort Sea holds 8.2 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 27.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The agency estimates the Chukchi holds 15.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 76.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
