Shell Begins Drilling for Oil and Gas off Alaskan Coast

USA Today reported that Royal Dutch Shell plc (LSE:RDSA) began preliminary work on an exploratory oil and gas well in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska at 4:30 a.m. on September 10. Drilling has not taken place at this location for over 20 years.

As quoted in the market news:

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.

The company is authorized to drill narrow pilot holes 1,400 feet below the ocean floor and roughly 4,000 feet above a petroleum reservoir.

Click here to read the full USA Today report.