The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Thursday it will allow Shell to install a mudline cellar and drill and set the first two strings of casing in the Chukchi Sea offshore Alaska.
The mudline cellar is a device that ensures that a blowout preventer is adequately protected below the seafloor level. The drilling will take place in shallow nonoil-bearing zones.
Shell’s Chukchi and Beaufort Sea exploration plans and oil spill response plans have been previously approved by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and BSEE, respectively.
The projects require US Coast Guard certification of the company’s containment system, which is designed to capture flowing liquid hydrocarbons in case of well control loss, before any drilling into oil-bearing zones can occur. Shell must have the containment vessel positioned in the Arctic before any oil-bearing zones can be drilled. BSEE engineers recently conducted an initial inspection of the containment system, but the company has not yet secured the final Coast Guard certification.
