Unalaska, AK – Shell Oil's drilling plans for this summer in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas are not yet fully approved, so it's not certain that they will be bringing vessels and business to Unalaska. Shell Oil spokesperson Curtis Smith said the company is still awaiting air permits and action by the Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia.

Shell purchased the leases for drilling in the Chukchi Sea under the Bush administration's five-year lease sale plan. The legality of that plan is still under consideration by the court, which is awaiting more scientific information from the Department of the Interior. Smith said the court should get the information on March 29, but even after they get the information it is unclear if Shell will be able to proceed.

Additionally, the company needs two more air permits for the drilling rig. If the permits are approved then the public has 30 days to comment on them and challenge them.

"So then if somebody has an issue with either of those air permits, the challenge will have to be brought to the Environmental Appeals Board," Smith said. "And if it does go to the EAB, and frankly it's likely that they will, there's no real time line for when the EAB has to rule on those permits.

Smith said it is not certain that Shell will be able to start exploratory drilling in 2010. "As I say, we're still planning for success in 2010, but it's also fair to say that our windows are getting squeezed slightly, and we need some things to fall in our favor.

If they can drill, they will use the port of Dutch Harbor for pre-season loading, in-season re-supply, and off-season unloading. Smith said it's still uncertain how many support vessels would come to town, how often they would come through, and how many crew members would be here, though it would be fewer than 400.

He said other reports about Shell's activity in the region are misleading. "I think if I had any heartburn over the article itself that I read in the Dutch Harbor Fisherman it's that, to me it portrayed that it was a done deal. That Shell for sure was not only drilling in 2010, but that there were a number of vessel that were mid-sea, on their way. And while I wish that were the case, it just isn't."

Smith says that if they drill this summer, from July until October, they will start with two exploratory wells in the Beaufort Sea then drill three in the Chukchi. The information would be analyzed over the winter to see if there is a commercially viable oil or natural gas source in either area.

Many environmental and native groups are opposed to the drilling plans in the northern seas because of their potentially negative impacts on the ecosystems and the centuries-old subsistence lifestyles.