Reuters: FEATURE-Beaufort Sea oil plans raise hopes, fears
“…Shell’s decision to aggressively pursue Beaufort Sea oil prospects, largely off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, worries some North Slope Inupiat Eskimos who have long opposed any oil development in the waters used by migrating whales and other marine mammals.”
Posted Wednesday 7 September 2005
By Yereth Rosen
ANCHORAGE, Sept 6 (Reuters) – For years, the ice-choked waters off Alaska’s Arctic coastline were considered too expensive, too forbidding and too controversial to deserve much oil industry attention.
But now one major company, after dropping over $44 million earlier this year for exploration rights, is eyeing offshore oil prospects in the Beaufort Sea as the base for long-term and large-scale Alaska operations.
As gasoline prices reach record levels, exacerbated by the impact of Hurricane Katrina on distribution and supply in North America, the oil industry is taking another look at opening up new sources of oil.