"Shell Wins Tentative Approval for Offshore Arctic Drilling"

"Shell cleared a major hurdle Thursday in its effort to begin a two-year drilling program in the Arctic Ocean next summer, receiving a conditional exploration permit from the federal agency that oversees offshore oil development.

The company said it was buoyed by the morning announcement from the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, just as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar was preparing for an Alaska visit next week at the invitation of Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

That congressional tour, which will also include Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, will focus on energy issues.

The exploration permit covers an overall program that would drill four wells over two years in Camden Bay of the Beaufort Sea, due north of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge."

Richard Mauer reports for the Anchorage Daily News August 4, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"U.S. Agency Approves Shell Arctic Oil Drilling Plan" (Reuters)

"Arctic Oil Spill Could Prove Tough To Clean" (Greenspace/Los Angeles Times)