Current:Home > ContactItalian Oil Company Passes Last Hurdle to Start Drilling in U.S. Arctic Waters -Blueprint Wealth Network
Italian Oil Company Passes Last Hurdle to Start Drilling in U.S. Arctic Waters
View
Date:2025-04-14 23:10:58
The Trump administration has issued the first permit to drill in federal waters of the U.S. Arctic since Shell’s failed attempt ended in 2015.
As soon as December, the Italian oil company Eni could begin drilling exploratory wells on a lease that was set to expire at the end of the year.
The approval came after “a thorough and complete review of Eni’s well design, testing procedures and safety protocol,” according to Mark Fesmire, the director Alaska region of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. “Exploration must be conducted safely, and responsibly in relation to the Arctic environment and we will continue to engage Eni as they move forward with drilling its exploratory well,” he said.
There is widespread opposition to offshore drilling in the Arctic among conservationists and some native Alaskans, who fear it could impact marine animals that migrate through the area, including bowhead whales that subsistence hunters rely on for survival. Scientific research also points to the need to keep most fossil fuels in the ground to avert the worst consequences of climate change; a 2015 study in the journal Nature identified oil reserves in the Arctic as unburnable if the world hopes to keep global warming to within 2 degrees of pre-industrial times.
Unlike Shell, which was drilling in the open waters of the Chukchi Sea, Eni plans to access federal waters by drilling more than six miles from an artificial island in the Beaufort Sea. The island, called Spy Island, is in state water and is already home to wells and production facilities.
In 2015, Shell pulled out of a $7 billion Arctic drilling project after failing to find sufficient oil in one exploratory well and after a slew of equipment problems, culminating in the running aground of its drill barge, the Kulluk.
Despite the difference in the projects, Kristen Monsell of the Center for Biological Diversity said any drilling in the Arctic is “an accident waiting to happen.”
“The Trump administration is risking a major oil spill by letting this foreign corporation drill in the unforgiving waters off Alaska,” she said. “Offshore drilling threatens coastal communities and wildlife and will only push us deeper into the climate crisis.”
The approval of Eni’s permit comes as the Trump administration is weighing a proposal by Houston-based Hilcorp to construct a 24-acre artificial island for drilling in federal waters near Prudhoe Bay. The federal Bureau of Oceans and Energy Management (BOEM) expects the proposed project to produce 58,000 barrels a day. Hilcorp made headlines in Alaska this year after a gas pipeline leaked into Cook Inlet for months, revealing the company was unable to stop it while ice covered the water.
The period for public comments on the Hilcorp project was recently extended to Dec. 8.
At the same time, the Senate is expected to vote this week on a tax bill that includes a provision for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
veryGood! (321)
Related
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Hong Kong man jailed for 6 years after pleading guilty to a terrorism charge over a foiled bomb plot
- Russell Hamler, thought to be the last of WWII Merrill’s Marauders jungle-fighting unit, dies at 99
- Michigan Supreme Court rejects bid to keep Trump off 2024 primary ballot
- DeepSeek: Did a little known Chinese startup cause a 'Sputnik moment' for AI?
- Denver Nuggets' Aaron Gordon out after being bitten by dog
- Dwyane Wade’s Union With Gabrielle Union Is Stronger Than Ever in Sweet Family Photo With Kids
- Good girl! Virginia police dog helps track down missing kid on Christmas morning
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Texas highway chase ends with police ripping apart truck’s cab and pulling the driver out
Ranking
- Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
- North Korea’s Kim vows to bolster war readiness to repel ‘unprecedented’ US-led confrontations
- Nordstrom Rack's Year-End Sale Has $19 Vince Camuto Boots, $73 Burberry Sunglasses & More Insane Deals
- Boebert switches congressional districts, avoiding a Democratic opponent who has far outraised her
- Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
- Mbongeni Ngema, South African playwright and creator of 'Sarafina!,' has died at 68
- The Chosen: A Jesus and his disciples for the modern age
- Jacques Delors, architect of the modern EU and ‘Mr. Europe,’ dies aged 98
Recommendation
Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
Casinos, hospital ask judge to halt Atlantic City road narrowing, say traffic could cost jobs, lives
Actors, musicians, writers and artists we lost in 2023
North Dakota lawmaker who used homophobic slurs during DUI arrest has no immediate plans to resign
Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
Utah therapist Jodi Hildebrandt pleads guilty to abusing children with YouTube mom Ruby Franke
Juvenile sperm whale euthanized after stranding on North Carolina beach
Almcoin Trading Center: Detailed Explanation of Token Allocation Ratio.