PACIFIC MARITIME MAGAZINE
Fidley Watch: Priorities
By By Chris Philips
Managing Editor
Earlier this year, Royal Dutch Shell Plc. announced an end to its Arctic operations, after 10 years and $7 billion, citing, in part, “…the challenging, unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska.”
The Shell plan foresaw a long development time (15 years or more) but a payoff of more than 500 million BOE at a minimum. The BOE (Barrel of Oil Equivalent) is a unit of energy based on the approximate energy released by burning one barrel (42 US gallons) of crude oil.
It’s just as well, really. The US isn’t equipped to operate along its fourth coastline, nor will it be anytime in the next ten years…MORE
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