Alaska drilling ruling vacated, future uncertain

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – 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.

Reuters