Well this didn't last long

Maritime News
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Conoco Phillips just a month ago said they were headed to Alaska in 2014 and not they aren’t but what is this bit about Shell also stating they aren’t going back in 2014 either?

ConocoPhillips Suspends 2014 Alaska Drilling Plans
by Karen Boman|Rigzone Staff|Wednesday, April 10, 2013

ConocoPhillips will place on hold its 2014 drilling plans for Alaska’s Chukchi Sea due to the uncertainties of evolving federal regulatory requirements and operational permitting standards.

While the company is confident in its expertise and ability to safely conduct offshore Arctic operations, ConocoPhillips believes it needs more time to ensure that all regulatory stakeholders are aligned, said ConocoPhillips Alaska President Trond-Erik Johansen in a statement.

“We welcome the opportunity to work with the federal government and other leaseholders to further define and clarify the requirements for drilling offshore Alaska,” Johansen commented. “Once those requirements are understood, we will reevaluate our Chukchi Sea drilling plans. We believe this is a reasonable and responsible approach given the huge investments required to operate offshore in the Arctic.”

ConocoPhillips in 1998 was awarded 98 exploration lease tracts in the Chukchi Sea Outer Continental Shelf. The company is Alaska’s largest oil producer and is operator of the Kuparuk and Alpine fields. ConocoPhillips’ leases will expire in 2019. As of year-end 2012, the company had invested $650 million net in its Chukchi Sea operations, including leases, seismic, biological studies and well planning, a ConocoPhillips spokesperson told Rigzone in an email.

Royal Dutch Shell plc in February suspended its 2014 offshore Alaska drilling plans, saying it needed more time to ensure the readiness of its equipment and employees for future drilling.

Last month, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) concluded that Shell failed to finalize key components of its 2012 Alaska Arctic drilling program. DOI called on the industry and government to collaborate to develop an Arctic-specific model for offshore Alaska oil and gas exploration.

DOI Secretary Ken Salazar said the agency would proceed with ConocoPhillips using the same regime it did with Shell. While the Obama administration is interested in pursuing Arctic resources, Salazar said they wouldn’t allow shortcuts in terms of requirements, and that exploration would only be carried out with the “utmost safety.”

Greenpeace International called decisions by ConocoPhillips and Norway-based Statoil ASA to shelve Arctic drilling plans on admission that the oil industry is still not capable of meeting the enormous challenges posed by operating in the world’s most extreme environment.

“The time has come for governments around the world to call for a permanent halt to the reckless exploitation of the far north,” said Greenpeace International Arctic campaigner Ben Wycliffe in a statement.

Thanks so fucking much Shell for screwing the pooch like you did last summer…now nobody wants to go back because the eyes of the world are going to focused on any operator there like a laser beam and nobody wants to be under such scrutiny. If you had done things right then there would be a stampede to the Arctic and the jobs would be insane $$$.

WHAT A FUCKING CLOWN CIRCUS YOU PROVED TO BE!

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I think that is a typo and they’re maybe meaning 2013 for Shell being canceled. That was announced in February. I haven’t heard anything about the 2014 season being canceled. I’d think if they did it would be big news.

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[QUOTE=Kingrobby;105255]I think that is a typo and they’re maybe meaning 2013 for Shell being canceled. That was announced in February. I haven’t heard anything about the 2014 season being canceled. I’d think if they did it would be big news.[/QUOTE]

If you use “Shell drilling 2014” in your Google search it pops up everywhere. Could be real…

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I suspect that Shell has discovered that the NOBLE DISCOVER work (what shipyard did it end up in?) isn’t to be a quick, easy, cost effective fix. Ditto for the KULLUK.

Or maybe they have figured out that they shouldn’t (may not be allowed) to go back to the Arctic without new state of the art equipment.

Hopefully, the CONOCO PHILLIPS announcement is intended to tell the government that it needs to sort out the rules before anyone can drill in the Arctic to drill. There are way too many stupid rules, such as super strict air emissions requirements in a vast area with no other sources of air emissions.

Not to mention restrictions on when they can drill that might theoretically scare a few whales away from Native harpooners. They need to drill whenever the ice is out. If the Natives end up harpooning a few less whales, I’d call that a significant fringe benefit to oil drilling, not a problem. Natives harpoon whales out of tradition and for sport, not because they need food. Times have changed and hunting endangered species for sport is a tradition that should come to an end.

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[QUOTE=catherder;105282]If you use “Shell drilling 2014” in your Google search it pops up everywhere. Could be real…[/QUOTE]

All I seem to find is that Shells drilling is stopped UNTIL 2014. Nothing I’ve found says Shells 2014 season is canceled.

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[QUOTE=tugsailor;105290]

Not to mention restrictions on when they can drill that might theoretically scare a few whales away from Native harpooners. The need to drill whenever the ice is out. If the Natives end up harpooning a few less whales, I’d call that a significant fringe benefit to oil drilling, not a problem. Natives harpoon whales out of tradition and for sport, not because they need food. Times have changed and hunting endangered species for sport is a tradition that should come to an end.[/QUOTE]

Not to hijack the topic, but I don’t agree with your assessment of the Native whaling activities. Bowhead populations are increasing and the small amount of whales the Natives around the Arctic take do not threaten that population. I saw 2 of the bowheads being butchered on the beach this year and what started as a dead whale, in less than 24hrs was only a tiny bit of scraps for the seagulls. Everything else was taken and divided up amongst the residents. Even NOAA supports keeping the subsistence hunts going.

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That’s ok. We don’t need to agree. We’re all entitled to our own opinions.

I’ve spent a lot of time in a great many Native villages, most of which do not go whaling. The Natives in that area of Alaska “subsist” on Native corporation dividends (from oil and mineral royalties). Many Natives in that area also work for a living in high paying jobs, such as the North Slope oil patch and at the Red Dog mine. And like elsewhere in Alaska, they also “subsist” on an incredible amount of state and federal projects and programs. They make very good use of whale meat, but they certainly do not “subsist” on whale meat. Whaling is a tradition and a sport, not so different than deer hunting is for the rest of us.

Its kind of hard to tell the Japanese to stop whaling with a straight face when we make an unnecessary exception for the Natives to continue whaling. Whaling is an important tradition and sport for the Natives, but it no longer has anything to do with actual “subsistence.” Subsistence is just a false label that has been put on most recreational hunting and fishing in Alaska.

If the sounds of oil drilling did warn a few whales away (which I really doubt), I’d call that a good thing.

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[QUOTE=tugsailor;105316]That’s ok. We don’t need to agree. We’re all entitled to our own opinions.

I’ve spent a lot of time in a great many Native villages, most of which do not go whaling. The Natives in that area of Alaska “subsist” on Native corporation dividends (from oil and mineral royalties). Many Natives in that area also work for a living in high paying jobs, such as the North Slope oil patch and at the Red Dog mine. And like elsewhere in Alaska, they also “subsist” on an incredible amount of state and federal projects and programs. They make very good use of whale meat, but they certainly do not “subsist” on whale meat. Whaling is a tradition and a sport, not so different than deer hunting is for the rest of us.

Its kind of hard to tell the Japanese to stop whaling with a straight face when we make an unnecessary exception for the Natives to continue whaling. Whaling is an important tradition and sport for the Natives, but it no longer has anything to do with actual “subsistence.” Subsistence is just a false label that has been put on most recreational hunting and fishing in Alaska.

If the sounds of oil drilling did warn a few whales away (which I really doubt), I’d call that a good thing.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the adult response. Like you said we don’t need to agree, but it’s nice to have a mature response. Hard to get on here sometimes. Hahaha!

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Personally I believe 2014 to be a fantasy for Shell. Both rigs needs to be turned around and sitting back in DH in a year from now and will be forced to undergo the most rigorous testing and if they fail then goombye drilling permits. That energy in the Arctic ain’t goin anywhere and if Shell grows a brain then they are going to do everything in their power to NOT rush back.

btw…time to scrap that fucking piece of ship NOBLE DISCOVERER. Can’t even get out of its own way and unsafe at any speed

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That thing is a pure embarrassment and Shell should be ASHAMED!

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[QUOTE=Kingrobby;105294]All I seem to find is that Shells drilling is stopped UNTIL 2014. Nothing I’ve found says Shells 2014 season is canceled.[/QUOTE]

Perhaps you’re right, but ConocoPhillips just bailed: http://www.ogj.com/articles/2013/04/conocophillips-cancels-2014-chukchi-exploration-plans.html

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It looks like the fallout from Shell’s 2012 shenanigans has sunk any and all Arctic drilling for the foreseeable future.

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And it’s a damn shame because that could have meant some great paying jobs for a lot of people.

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[QUOTE=catherder;105282]If you use “Shell drilling 2014” in your Google search it pops up everywhere. Could be real…[/QUOTE]
Maybe Google brought you to the anti-Shell website, royaldutchshellplc.com, that’s all that popped up when I googled that phrase. That site always has negative things about Shell, not all of them untrue, but they lost me by putting the swastika on their page.

Would have thought Conoco was doing it right by bringing new equipment up there, maybe they want to test run everything first in another location to ensure they are up to speed when they do go to the Arctic to drill offshore. They have been pretty successful already, wish them good luck when they do venture into the Chukchi.

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[QUOTE=The Commodore;105388]Maybe Google brought you to the anti-Shell website, royaldutchshellplc.com, that’s all that popped up when I googled that phrase. That site always has negative things about Shell, not all of them untrue, but they lost me by putting the swastika on their page.

Would have thought Conoco was doing it right by bringing new equipment up there, maybe they want to test run everything first in another location to ensure they are up to speed when they do go to the Arctic to drill offshore. They have been pretty successful already, wish them good luck when they do venture into the Chukchi.[/QUOTE]

Actually I got quite a few hits including Rigzone…

Buried in this article about ConocoPhillips is this sentence:

“Royal Dutch Shell plc in February suspended its 2014 offshore Alaska drilling plans, saying it needed more time to ensure the readiness of its equipment and employees for future drilling.”

Sometimes a press release gets issued with an error and that multiplies itself across the web. Could be that they meant until 2014 so let’s watch for a correction.