(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - One day after starting to drill the first well in Alaska's Arctic offshore in more than two decades, Royal Dutch Shell announced Monday it needed to move its rig as a precaution against sea ice that could move into the area.

Part of working in ice is having the ability to temporarily relocate," Royal Dutch Shell's spokesman Kelly op de Weegh said in a news release.

The Noble Discoverer, one of the two drillships Shell leased for the Alaska drilling campaign, began digging the "top hole" of the prospect on Sunday.

Shell said the ship was disconnected from its anchors and will come back to the area and resume drilling the initial phases of an exploratory well when the ice moves on.

Related:

Shells' Arctic drilling program begins; Limited Activities to be Conducted in Non-Oil-Bearing Zones By Mary Kauffman, SitNews - The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director James A. Watson announced recently that Shell will be allowed to move forward with certain limited preparatory activities in the Chukchi Sea offshore Alaska. The BSEE is a bureau of the U.S. Department of Interior. According to reports, Shells' $4.5 billion Arctic drilling program began early Sunday morning. - More...
Monday - September 10, 2012

 

Source of News: 

Shell Royal Dutch
www.shell.com

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