On September 27, 2015, Shell announced that their exploration in the summer of 2015 was "disappointing" and that they would abandon further oil exploration in the Arctic "for the foreseeable future".[5]
Historical background
"All science points to the fact that oil is an archaic technology at this point. It's not a sustainable technology to further invest in."
"For Seattle to remain a thriving and viable maritime city, it cannot continue to set a hostile tone and environment toward our port and maritime sector."
Joshua Berger of the Washington Maritime Federation.[6]
Satirical sign at Jack Block Park by Seattle artist Jack DawsActivists coordinated on social media with the hashtags #ShellNo and #paddleinseattleProtesters in Bellingham
Seattle has been a staging point for those seeking to exploit the natural resources of the Alaska region since the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896, when the city was the main supply center and departure point for prospectors heading to the gold fields of Alaska and the Yukon. The perception by some Alaskans that Seattle exerted undue influence on the Territory helped motivate their desire for Alaskan statehood, achieved in 1958. Since the discovery of oil in Prudhoe Bay in 1968, Seattle has played an integral role in the Alaska petroleum industry.[7]
The city of Seattle says the maritime sector which includes ship builders, cargo vessels and tug companies comprises 22,000 jobs for a $2.1 billion annual contribution to the Seattle economy.[6]
In the summer 2012, Shell refurbished the Kulluk and the Noble Discovererdrillships in Seattle, which the company said employed 400 shipyard workers and put $200 million into the local economy.[9] The ships were for use in exploration for oil in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska's North Coast, which if successful could begin production no sooner than 2023.[9]Greenpeace opposed these plans, and some Iñupiat people of the North Slope said that in spite of the economic benefits to them, they feared damage to the ocean environment they depend on for food.[9] A Barrow, Alaska village organization director said, "We are opposed to offshore development because the ocean is like our garden up here in the Arctic for our subsistence way of life."[9]
The Kulluk ran aground in January 2013 and had to be rescued, resulting in the US Department of the Interior ordering Shell to halt drilling until safety problems were corrected.[10] Shell was criticized in an Interior Department report, which cited inadequate supervision of subcontractors by Shell's management, and a lack of preparedness for the Arctic conditions.[10] New regulations were written by the department, and drilling was restricted to shallower waters, up to 140ft (43m) deep, and to summer months only, and stricter rules on blowout preventers were put in place.[10]
Environmentalists and oil industry experts agree the area is one of the most dangerous areas in the world to drill, because besides rough seas including 50ft (15m) waves, storms, and cold weather, the cleanup and rescue is made harder by a lack of any roads to major cities and no deepwater ports within hundreds of miles, with the closest Coast Guard station capable of assisting in an oil spill located 1,000 miles (1,600km) away.[10]Bowhead whales and walruses migrate through the area, and the Iñupiat fear an oil spill could damage both their whaling-based culture and livelihood.[4][10] A statement from the Interior Department said they were taking a "thoughtful approach" in balancing environmental and safety concerns, and respect for the traditions of indigenous people.[10] Susan Murray of the environmental group Oceana said, "Shell has not shown that it is prepared to operate responsibly in the Arctic Ocean, and neither the company nor our government has been willing to fully and fairly evaluate the risks of Shell's proposal."[10]
Shell's Alaska vice president Pete Slaiby said its goal was not, "any kind of grand energy independence", but rather that, "This is all about energy choice," so that the US could replace oil imports from hostile foreign regimes with domestic production.[9] Shell says the Arctic holds about 30% of the undiscovered oil and gas in the world, and exploiting it is necessary to satisfy growing world demand, though US domestic petroleum production is booming in 2015, due mainly to fracking in Texas and North Dakota, and oil prices are falling.[4] At current rates the goal of US energy independence, oil exports exceeding imports, could be reached by 2030, according to the US Energy Information Administration.[4] This turning point could come sooner with greatly increased Arctic oil production.[4]
Prior to public discussion
The Fremont Solstice Parade included several groups protesting Shell's Arctic drilling, including giant puppets, polar bears and oil workers
In October 2013, Terminal 5's tenant, Eagle Maritime Services, made plans to relocate. The Port of Seattle decided to update T5, and they asked businesses, including Foss Maritime, to find temporary uses for that terminal.[1] Foss has been in Seattle for over 100 years.[6] In May, 2014, Foss Maritime representatives met with Port staff, discussing the use of T5 to handle modules of a liquid natural gas plant which would go by barge to Canada for assembly.[1] In June, Foss had the idea of using T5 for mooring Shell oil rigs.[1]
The purpose of the new lease was to provide an off-season harbor for Shell vessels conducting exploratory drilling in the summer in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast.[6] The US Geological Survey has estimated the offshore reserves in the Arctic at 26 million barrels of oil and 130 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.[6]
The leases of Eagle Marine Services and Westwood Shipping Lines ended in July 2014, so the following month Eagle moved to the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18 and Westwood moved to Tacoma, so T5 was without a tenant.[1] The new lease with Shell was valued at $13 million.[6] During these months, representatives of Shell, Foss, The US Coast Guard, the Port, and Puget Sound Pilots watched a simulation of an oil rig entering Elliott Bay to evaluate traffic safety and determine where to moor the rigs.[1] In December 2014, the commissioners and staff of the Port were receiving emails from the maritime community expressing support for hosting the drilling rigs.[1] During the last months of 2014, a safety assessment was carried out by the Port, the Coast Guard, Foss, and Puget Sound Pilots, by conducting a simulation of an oil rig entering Elliott Bay.[1]
Public announcement and protest
"The People's Barge", a solar and wind-powered multimedia platform opposing the Polar Pioneer and Arctic drilling
On January 13, 2015, the first public meeting North Slope fleet at Terminal 5.[1] On February 9, the lease with Shell was signed by Port of Seattle CEO Ted Fick.[1]
When the deal became known, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and the Seattle City Council announced they would review it.[12] On March 9, the city of Seattle began looking for ways it could hinder the deal.[1] Murray asked Port to reconsider the contract with Foss, and said that the Port of Seattle must get permits for new uses in order to host the Arctic drilling fleet, explaining that, "This is an opportunity for the port and all of us to make a bold statement about how oil companies contribute to climate change, oil spills and other environmental disasters – and reject this short-term lease."[6]
On May 11, the Obama administration and the Department of the Interior announced that Shell had won conditional approval to being exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea with leases Shell had acquired in 2008.[10] Seven more state and Federal permits would be required to commence operations.[4] The decision was a victory for Shell, having worked for several years to overcome regulatory roadblocks, based primarily on concerns of an accident like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.[10] The dangers of the Arctic seas and weather were seen as increasing the risk of an accident, as well as exacerbating the difficulty of containing a blowout and oil spill, and carrying out cleanup.[10] An earlier attempt to begin drilling was suspended due to safety issues including a fire on one rig.[4]
On May 12, the same day Port Commissioners filed an appeal of the city's land use permit decision, Shell's drillship Noble Discoverer arrived in Everett, Washington on its way to Bellingham, Washington.[1][15] The ship, IMO number:6608608 is a Liberian-flagged Sonat Discoverer-class drillship built in 1966 by Namura Shipbuilding and owned by Noble Corporation, weighing 16,000-gross tonnage(GT), 514ft (157m) long with a 175ft (53m) tall drilling derrick capable of drilling in 1,000ft (300m) of water to a drilling depth of 20,000ft (6,100m).[16][17] It was met by 10 protesters in kayaks, along with a Greenpeace motorboat carrying reporters.[15] The kayakers displayed banners reading "ShellNo.org" and "Arctic drilling = climate chaos".[15] The Everett protest was described by one kayaktivist as "just a warm up" for the upcoming event in Seattle.[15]
In the pre-dawn hours of May 14, the Polar Pioneer left Port Angeles with a Coast Guard and tugboat escort.[1] A 500-foot (150m) safety zone was established around the moving rig, and the Coast Guard issued warnings to protesters ahead of time to stay clear.[1] At least 20 kayaks, and members of the Duwamish Tribe in a large wooden canoe, greeted the rig in Elliott Bay, unfurling a banner reading "Arctic Drilling = Climate Change."[1] Many of the kayakers were freshly trained that day, in rented boats.[1] When the Polar Pioneer arrived in Elliott Bay, it was met by a flotilla of hundreds more protesters in kayaks and other small boats, voicing their opposition to oil drilling in Arctic waters because of the risk of oil spills, undersea oil well blowouts, damage to wildlife from human activity, and the climate change caused by the use of fossil fuels.[4][10] There were no problems or arrests during the protest and the Polar Pioneer was safely moored at Terminal 5 at 4:30 pm.[1]
"We think that if they're not in Seattle then it may be the end of Arctic drilling for the near future."
A counter-protester at Seacrest Park, recently laid off from the maritime industry, said "If these (activists) choose to put me and guys like me out of work for an idea, what are they trying to do?"[1] Foss Maritime said to date, 417 people had been employed by the Shell contract, with Shell paying Transocean $593,000 per day to lease the Polar Pioneer, out of some $6 billion the company was going to spend on Alaska oil exploration.[1] Over the life of the two-year lease, Foss will pay $13.17 million to the Port of Seattle.[1]
Democratic Alaska State RepresentativeBob Herron said on the Alaska State House floor, "It must be nice to eat cheese and sip wine in Olympia while they talk about the Arctic. But it does remind us of the paternalistic past when the state of Alaska was plundered by people from Washington and other areas ... who covet our resources."[7]
Shell said they were committed to drilling in the Arctic one way or another, but City Council member Mike O'Brien told MSNBC's Chris Hayes, "All the other major players have pulled out of the Arctic. It's only Shell that's left. And the only two ports they were looking at to host this fleet were Seattle and Dutch Harbor, Alaska. And Dutch Harbor's really a problematic environment because the weather up there is so severe. So we think that if they're not in Seattle then it may be the end of Arctic drilling for the near future."[12] With regard to the economic impact on Seattle and the threat of lost jobs, O'Brien said, "There's no doubt that our economy is tied to the fossil fuel industry. We have a lot of work to do if we're going to unwind that and become that kind of sustainable planet that we want to be. ... there's jobs tied to that fossil fuel industry. We have to figure out how we transition away from that. What we can't do today is take a huge step backwards. And drilling in the Arctic and tying Seattle's future to successful drilling in the Arctic is that huge step backwards that undermines what were trying to do."[12]
As part of the ongoing series of protests, activists from the group Mosquito Fleet* rented a 4,000sqft (370m2) barge from Lakeshore Marine Construction of Kenmore.[11] They anchored it off Seacrest Park, christening it "The People's Platform", and equipping it with speakers, video equipment, a huge video screen, and solar and wind power supplies.[11] The project was led by Arctic drilling protest organizer John Sellers, who works for a nonprofit called The Other 98% which addresses "undue corporate influence". The Mosquito Fleet raised $16,400 in donations in 6 days with a YouTube video proposal on Indiegogo to fund the barge rental, at a rate of about $15,000 every two weeks.[11]
On May 22, 2015, the protests spread to Bellingham when student activist Chiara D'Angelo chained herself to the anchor chain of the Royal Dutch Shell barge Arctic Challenger for 63 hours.[18]
An oil platform is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms will also have facilities to accommodate the workers, although it is also common to have a separate accommodation platform bridge linked to the production platform. Most commonly, oil platforms engage in activities on the continental shelf, though they can also be used in lakes, inshore waters, and inland seas. Depending on the circumstances, the platform may be fixed to the ocean floor, consist of an artificial island, or float. In some arrangements the main facility may have storage facilities for the processed oil. Remote subsea wells may also be connected to a platform by flow lines and by umbilical connections. These sub-sea facilities may include one or more subsea wells or manifold centres for multiple wells.
MSV Fennica is a Finnish multipurpose icebreaker and offshore support vessel. Built in 1993 by Finnyards in Rauma, Finland and operated by Arctia Offshore, she was the first Finnish icebreaker designed to be used as an escort icebreaker in the Baltic Sea during the winter months and in offshore construction projects during the open water season. Fennica has an identical sister ship, Nordica, built in 1994.
Transocean Ltd. is an American company. It is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor based on revenue and is based in Vernier, Switzerland. The company has offices in 20 countries, including Canada, the United States, Norway, United Kingdom, India, Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
The question of whether to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has been an ongoing political controversy in the United States since 1977. As of 2017, Republicans have attempted to allow drilling in ANWR almost fifty times, finally being successful with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
Exploration for petroleum in the Arctic is expensive and challenging both technically and logistically. In the offshore, sea ice can be a major factor. There have been many discoveries of oil and gas in the several Arctic basins that have seen extensive exploration over past decades but distance from existing infrastructure has often deterred development. Development and production operations in the Arctic offshore as a result of exploration have been limited, with the exception of the Barents and Norwegian seas. In Alaska, exploration subsequent to the discovery of the Prudhoe Bay oilfield has focussed on the onshore and shallow coastal waters.
Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the term is used to describe drilling activities on the continental shelf, though the term can also be applied to drilling in lakes, inshore waters and inland seas.
Canada's early petroleum discoveries took place near population centres or along lines of penetration into the frontier.
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. A core component of Big Oil, Shell is the second largest investor-owned oil and gas company in the world by revenue, and among the world's largest companies out of any industry.
Vladimir Ignatyuk is a Russian icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel. She was built by Burrard-Yarrows Corporation in Canada in 1983 as Kalvik as part of an Arctic drilling system developed by BeauDril, the drilling subsidiary of Gulf Canada Resources. After the offshore oil exploration in the Beaufort Sea ended in the early 1990s, she was sold to the Canadian shipping company Fednav in 1997 and renamed Arctic Kalvik. In 2003, she was purchased by Murmansk Shipping Company and transferred to Russia.
Aiviq is an American icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) owned by Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO). The $200 million vessel was built in 2012 by North American Shipbuilding Company in Larose, Louisiana and LaShip in Houma, Louisiana. She was initially chartered by Royal Dutch Shell to support oil exploration and drilling in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska where the primary task of the vessel was towing and laying anchors for drilling rigs, and oil spill response.
MSV Nordica is a Finnish multipurpose icebreaker and offshore support vessel. Built in 1994 by Finnyards in Rauma, Finland, and operated by Arctia Offshore, she and her sister ship Fennica were the first Finnish icebreakers designed to be used as escort icebreakers in the Baltic Sea during the winter months and in offshore construction projects during the open water season.
Save the Arctic is a Greenpeace campaign to protect the Arctic, principally by preventing oil drilling and unsustainable industrial fishing in the area completely, surrounded by an Arctic-Environmental economics-Zone. The campaign, begun in 2012, calls for a sanctuary in the uninhabited high seas area around the North Pole, similar to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. The campaign aims to begin this process by prompting a United Nations resolution on protection for the Arctic. Due to Russian invasion in Ukraine, world's 13% oil reserves could be a melting point in the Arctic.
Arctic Challenger is a barge which has been converted by Superior Energy Services for use in the Arctic drilling operations of Shell Oil Company. This barge is designed to function as a "novel engineering solution" which they refer to as an Arctic Containment System to respond should a blowout event occur at drilling sites in the Beaufort or Chukchi Seas. According to testimony provided to Senator Mark Begich on 11 October 2012, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Thomas Ostebo said the certification for the Shell spill barge Arctic Challenger to operate in Alaska was given on the 10th of October at the Bellingham, Washington shipyard where it was constructed. Ostebo is commander of the Coast Guard's 17th district, which covers Alaska.
Kulluk was an ice-strengthened drill barge that was used for oil exploration in the Arctic waters. She was constructed by Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding in Japan in 1983 and operated in the Canadian Arctic until 1993 when she was mothballed for over a decade. In 2005, she was purchased and extensively refurbished by Royal Dutch Shell for drilling off the Alaska North Slope.
Single steel drilling caisson is a drill barge that was built for year-round oil exploration in shallow ice-covered waters in the Beaufort Sea. The unit, initially named SSDC and later shortened to SDC, was converted from an old oil tanker in the early 1980s. It has been used to drill a total of eight oil wells on both Canadian and U.S. continental shelves, the most recent in 2006.
Robert LeMeur was an icebreaking platform supply vessel used to support oil exploration in the Beaufort Sea. Built in 1982 by Burrard Yarrows Corporation in Vancouver, British Columbia, she was part of the fleet of Canadian icebreakers, drillships and support vessels operated by Canadian Marine Drilling (Canmar), the drilling subsidiary of Dome Petroleum and later Amoco Canada Petroleum Company.
Miscaroo was an icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel built by Vancouver Shipyards for BeauDril, the drilling subsidiary of Gulf Canada Resources, in 1983. She was part of a fleet of Canadian icebreakers used to support offshore oil exploration in the Beaufort Sea. In the 1990s, the vessel was acquired by Canadian Marine Drilling (Canmar) and renamed Canmar Miscaroo. In 1998, she was purchased by Smit International and served in the Sakhalin oil fields as Smit Sakhalin until 2017 when the 34-year-old icebreaker was sold for scrapping in China.
Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di is a Chinese icebreaker owned by the Sun Yat-sen University. She was built in 1983 as an icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel (AHTS) Ikaluk for BeauDril, the drilling subsidiary of Gulf Canada Resources, to support offshore oil exploration in the Beaufort Sea. In the 1990s, the vessel was acquired by Canadian Marine Drilling (Canmar) and renamed Canmar Ikaluk. In 1998, she was purchased by Smit International and served in the Sakhalin oil fields as Smit Sibu. In 2009, she was acquired by FEMCO Management and in 2012 given back her original name. Ikaluk was sold to China in February 2018 and renamed Beijing Ocean Leader. In late 2021, the vessel was acquired by its current owner.
Kigoriak is a Russian icebreaking anchor handling tug supply vessel. Built by Saint John Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company for Canadian Marine Drilling (Canmar) in 1979 as Canmar Kigoriak, she was the first commercial icebreaking vessel developed to support offshore oil exploration in the Beaufort Sea.
Tagiuk Provider, formerly Arctic Endeavor, is a 205 ft (62 m) 1500-ton ice-class flat-topped deck cargo barge adapted to being a clam-shell crane scoop mining platform for placer gold mining in the Bering Sea off Nome, Alaska, United States. The barge, a gold dredge, is owned by Tagiuk Gold, which previously ran scuba-diver-operated suction dredges for seafloor gold mining in the area. Tagiuk Gold is run by miner Andrew Lee, whose business running the barge is partially crowdfunded. Tagiuk Provider was profiled in an episode of Bering Sea Gold, at which time, it was the largest scoop dredge operating off Nome.
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