By DAN JOLING: Associated Press
Published: September 14th, 2012 04:57 PM
Last Modified: September 14th, 2012 06:02 PM
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Persistent sea ice will keep a Royal Dutch Shell drill ship off a prospect in the Chukchi Sea until at least Monday, a spokesman for Shell Alaska said Friday.
A mass of ice 30 miles long and 12 miles wide continues to block the resumption of exploratory petroleum drilling 70 miles off the northwest coast of Alaska, Curtis Smith said by email.
Shell’s ship, the Noble Discoverer, began drilling a pilot hole on the sea floor last Sunday. It’s the first drilling work in U.S.-controlled Chukchi waters since 1991.