01/14/2013| 07:16pm US/Eastern
By Selina Williams
LONDON–The U.K. government has rejected lawmakers’ calls for a halt to Arctic oil and gas drilling, despite renewed safety concerns following the recent grounding of Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSA, RDSA.LN, RDSB.LN) Kulluk rig off Alaska, saying that securing global energy supplies was paramount.
The U.K. government’s comments, published Tuesday, come as Shell Monday said it had safely towed the Kulluk rig to safe harbor on Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska. The rig ran aground in stormy weather Dec. 31 while under tow, further highlighting fears about the environmental risks of oil extraction in the Arctic.
The government said that while it recognized the risks of drilling for hydrocarbons in the sensitive Arctic region, high environmental and drilling standards, efforts to enhance oil spill prevention and response mechanisms would be more effective than a ban.
“We believe these measures–combined with effective and ambitious global action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions–are more likely to be effective in protecting the Arctic environment than pressing for a complete moratorium on all drilling in the Arctic region,” the government said.
The government was responding to a report from the U.K. parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee in September last year, which recommended an immediate moratorium on Arctic drilling until safety is improved.
The lawmakers want to see a pan-Arctic oil spill response plan, research showing that response techniques will work in extreme conditions and the introduction of stricter financial liability rules for oil and gas companies operating in the area.
However, the U.K. government said the International Energy Agency’s recent global oil demand and supply forecasts implied a need to source substantial new production capacity between now and 2035. New oil supplies are vital for the U.K., which is becoming increasingly dependent on oil imports as its domestic hydrocarbon production declines.
“It is against this background that we need to ensure we have continued access to a well supplied and competitive world oil market, whilst reducing our exposure to volatile oil and gas prices,” the government said.
The U.K. has no power over the Arctic, but it does have observer status on the Arctic Council, a grouping of eight Arctic states that discusses Arctic issues.
Joan Walley, the chair of the Environmental Audit Committee said the grounding of the Kulluk rig raised serious questions about the safety of Shell’s operations in the Arctic and the committee would be calling them back to parliament to give further evidence.
Write to Selina Williams at [email protected]; Twitter: @selinawilliams3
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
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.
