Royal Dutch Shell is now able to drill into the Arctic Ocean’s oil-bearing rock for the first time since 1991.
The federal government granted the last permit necessary today for Shell to drill in the Chukchi Sea.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement announced that Shell’s exploratory drilling may proceed since the equipment required to prevent a possible well blowout arrived last week.
The company was given permission in July to drill only the top sections of two wells because the key safety equipment had not arrived yet on Shell’s ship, the Fennica, whose hull was damaged in July.
After repairs in Oregon, that ship and the oil spill prevention and response equipment arrived last Tuesday, August 11.
Environmental groups say the industrial activity will impact wildlife and that oil companies have not proven they can clean up a spill in ice-choked waters such as the Arctic Ocean.
The area that Shell will be drilling, known as the Burger Prospect, is located approximately 70 miles northwest of the village of Wainwright in about 140 feet of water.