Unalaska, AK –
Shell Oil received conditional approval today from the Department of the Interior to drill three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea. However, the company is still waiting for an air discharge permit from the Environmental Protection Agency and for the Secretary of the Interior to provide more environmental analysis to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Shell Oil spokesperson Curtis Smith says the company will not commit to any drilling or staging plans until they are certain they can get the final permit. The company spent $2.1 billion dollars on their Chukchi lease areas. Smith says they do not want to commit millions more in exploratory drilling preparation until they are certain the permits will go through. That means that even though Shell favors Unalaska as a staging ground for exploratory operations in the Arctic, the ships will not necessarily come through here this summer.

Environmentalists and native groups oppose the conditional approval saying that even exploratory drilling can cause major environmental problems. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a press release that they are taking a cautious but deliberate step toward learning more about the Chukchi Sea in an effort to reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil.