Unalaska, AK – The Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be bad news for Shell's plans to conduct exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea this summer, though the Obama administration's position is not exactly clear. Shell has obtained most of its permits for the drilling, but those permits are still held up by court action, and it's not clear if the Obama administration is going to stand by its earlier decision to let the Chukchi and Beaufort exploration go ahead. Thursday, in response to reporters' questions, the White House said oil and gas activities already authorized would go ahead, but Friday on the national television show "Good Morning America," White House senior policy adviser David Axelrod said there will be no more drilling until they figure out what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico. "No additional drilling has been authorized," he said, "and none will until we find out what happened here and whether there was something unique and preventable here." White House spokespersons have not clarified the issue.

Shell Oil Alaska spokesperson Curtis Smith said they are moving forward as planned for drilling this summer. "We are moving forward with our plans for drilling because we have not been told otherwise. At this point we're comfortable with our standing here in Alaska and the information we have been receiving."

If Shell drills, they will use Unalaska as a staging area. It is unclear which docking facilities they would potentially use.

Many residents near the Arctic seas oppose the drilling because of potential disasters such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico and because cleaning up oil in the icy waters would be much more difficult than elsewhere.

An oil rig exploded on April 20 in the Gulf of Mexico and since then 5,000 barrels of oil have leaked out of the hole each day. The mechanism that was supposed to plug the hole in the case of an emergency did not trigger. Weather patterns have push oil toward the coast and reached the environmentally sensitive Mississippi Delta in Louisiana Friday morning. The spill has shut down all local fisheries. The state of Louisiana has declared an emergency. More than 2,000 people are responding to the spill, including the military. Responders are worried that predicted thunderstorms and high waves will push the oil over the booms that are laid out along the coast line and push oil up into the rivers.

APRN's Steve Heimel contributed to this report.