The Obama administration gave a Shell subsidiary conditional approval Monday to begin drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska this summer.

Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc., which is part of London-based Royal Dutch Shell, plans to use two rigs to explore and drill for oil in the Chuchki Sea during the next two summers. Royal Dutch Shell has long sought access to the Chuchki Sea, where it has reportedly spent more than $2 billion in 2008 securing leases for what it believes are huge deposits of oil and natural gas.



Salvage teams assess damage to Shell's Kulluk drill barge in January 2013 after it ran aground during the company's attempt to explore for oil in the Arctic. Tim Aubry/AFP/Getty Images

A previous attempt by Royal Dutch Shell to explore for oil in the Chuchki and Beaufort seas in 2012 ended in disaster when a drilling barge, the Kulluk, ran aground amid poor weather, surging seas, mechanical issues and alleged blunders by corporate management and barge operators.

“We have taken a thoughtful approach to carefully considering potential exploration in the Chukchi Sea, recognizing the significant environmental, social and ecological resources in the region and establishing high standards for the protection of this critical ecosystem, our Arctic communities, and the subsistence needs and cultural traditions of Alaska Natives,” BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement. “As we move forward, any offshore exploratory activities will continue to be subject to rigorous safety standards.”

Environmental groups sharply criticized the decision, as advocates have long urged President Barack Obama and the Interior Department to keep the Chuchki Sea off-limits to drilling. Any spill in the region, they warn, could prove catastrophic, destroying sensitive marine life and proving nearly impossible to clean up because of icy seas and frequent storms.

“It’s outrageous how our own government appears determined to sacrifice our precious Arctic Ocean for Shell’s profits,” Marissa Knodel, a member of the climate and energy team at Friends of the Earth, said in a statement. “The Department of the Interior’s hasty approval of Shell’s revised Exploration Plan ignores its legal duties and sets us on the path toward climate catastrophe. With a 75 percent chance of a large oil spill and more drilling equipment, air, water and noise pollution, this is the largest, loudest and dirtiest exploration plan ever proposed in the American Arctic Ocean.”

In contrast, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski – the Republican chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a proponent of off-shore drilling – welcomed the decision, calling on federal agencies to quickly approve the remaining permits Shell needs to move forward.

“With an estimated 25 percent of the world’s undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources and active exploration by countries like Russia, it’s critical that we move forward as a nation and set the standard for responsible development in the Arctic," Murkowski said in a statement. “Interior’s approval of the exploration permit is a key step, but more needs to be done in the coming weeks to ensure that Shell’s exploration program proceeds this summer."

Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden takes questions during a January press conference in London. Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images



At the same time, Obama has sought to open the Atlantic Ocean to drilling, as well as the Arctic. A 2010 plan to green-light oil exploration in the Atlantic was taken off the table after the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in April of that year, which spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico in what would become the worst marine oil disaster in U.S. history. A proposal to allow drilling in the Atlantic was introduced again in January.

“President Obama must protect our planet and our children’s health from dangerous climate change. That should mean saying ‘no’ to Shell and ‘yes’ to clean energy alternatives,” Franz Matzner, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Beyond Oil initiative, said in a statement. “This wrongheaded decision also will expose the Arctic to the likelihood of catastrophic spills in ice-choked waters more than 1,000 miles from a Coast Guard base and other critical cleanup infrastructure. Any major Arctic Ocean spill would be impossible to clean up.”

A Royal Dutch Shell spokesman called the Interior Department decision an “important milestone.”