EPA issues Shell Alaska permits

Green light: The latest EPA approval, which gives Shell the right to drill in the Chukchi, pictured, and Beaufort Seas, is likely to be appealed.

Reuters

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By News Wires

 20 September 2011 02:09 GMT

Shell has won two critical permits it needs to drill in Arctic waters off Alaska in the next two years, federal officials said on Monday.

The US Environmental Protection Agency said it issued Shell final air-quality permits the company needs to operate a huge drillship and associated vessels in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.

Loss of similar permits in a battle with environmentalists and Alaska native groups last winter forced Shell to abandon its plan to drill this year.

A Shell representative said approval of the new permits puts the company on its way to drilling in the offshore Arctic. Shell plans to drill two wells a year in the Beaufort in 2012 and 2013 and up to…

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