January 10, 2012 at 11:30 am by Puneet Kollipara
A top federal official said today the Interior Department is committed to giving Shell Oil Co. a firm, timely answer on its applications to drill off the Alaska coast starting next summer.
Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes said his department is well along in its consideration of several components of Shells applications for drilling exploratory wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas starting next summer.
We are committed to giving them a timely up or down, Hayes told reporters at an event hosted by Platts Energy Podium. Although he didnt specify an exact date to expect a final decision, he said the department has a general sense that Shell needs input early this year.
Shell has spent $4 billion in securing leases from the Interior Department in those two seas since 2005. But the company has yet to drill a single well thanks to a variety of events, ranging from litigation to the successful appeal of air permits.
The company has already received approval from the department on a broad plan for exploratory drilling in the Beaufort Sea. The company also has gotten Interior Department approval for its Chukchi exploration plan, albeit with some strings attached aimed at ensuring any spills could be stopped and cleaned before the water ices up.
Although environmental groups have mounted a legal challenge to the Beaufort plan, Hayes said the department is processing the applications under the assumption that the litigation doesnt pose a barrier.
Shell must get permits for each of the individual wells before it can start drilling them, and the Interior Department must sign off on the companys oil-spill response plans. Hayes said Interior doesnt yet have Shells applications for individual well permits.
Hayes also defended the Interior Departments decision to make approval of the Chukchi exploration plan contingent on restricting the time when Shell could drill.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has said Shell would have to stop any drilling 38 days before the first day when ice starts encroaching over the drilling site, typically Nov. 1 or later, under the condition. Shell has criticized the restriction, saying it could severely impact our ability to deliver a complete Chukchi program.
We believe that was the right decision to make a conservative decision, and we intend to stand by it, Hayes said.
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
