The US Department of Interior (DoI) has unveiled final regulations on future exploratory drilling activities on the US Arctic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
The Arctic-specific regulations focus solely on OCS exploratory drilling operations from floating vessels within the US Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. These rules require oil companies to ensure proper internal controls and planning for oil spill prevention, containment and responses. The regulations codify and further develop current Arctic-specific operational standards to ensure that operators take the necessary steps to plan through all phases of OCS exploration in the Arctic, including mobilization, maritime transport and emergency response, and the conduct of safe drilling operations.
So far, oil and gas exploration in the US Arctic has been limited. In 2015, Shell decided to withdraw from the Arctic, after having invested US$7bn in exploration off the Alaska's coast. The company had to interrupt its Arctic operations in 2012 after a drilling rig ran aground.
Interested in Global Energy Research?
Enerdata's premium online information service provides up-to-date market reports on 110+ countries. The reports include valuable market data and analysis as well as a daily newsfeed, curated by our energy analysts, on the oil, gas, coal and power markets.
This user-friendly tool gives you the essentials about the domestic markets of your concern, including market structure, organisation, actors, projects and business perspectives.