Tuesday May 10, 2011
By GUY CHAZAN AND STEPHEN POWER
The White House is ratcheting up its involvement in a looming decision on whether to grant Royal Dutch Shell PLC permission to drill for oil off the coast of Alaska, raising the company’s hopes that it can secure the necessary permits for an expensive and controversial project.
In an interview, Shell’s U.S. president, Marvin Odum, said a meeting last week with senior Environmental Protection Agency officials and top energy aides to President Barack Obama left him more confident Shell would get all the permits it needs to start drilling in the Arctic seas off Alaska next year. The drilling plans have faced fierce opposition from environmental and some indigenous Alaskan groups and, a senior administration official noted, must still secure the approval of multiple federal agencies.