Shell gets Alaskan air quality permit

Energy giant Shell Oil has been awarded an air quality permit by the US Environmental Protection Agency for one of its drilling vessels - paving the way for reserve exploitation off the coast of Alaska.

The EPA granted the licence after Shell showed interest in drilling exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea, which is off the north-west coast of the state.

Curtis Smith, a spokesperson for the firm's Alaskan operation, claimed that the air quality permit was a step in the right direction.

Speaking to the Huffington Post via email, Mr Smith said: "The delivery of final air permits for our exploration program is another in a series of recent, positive developments and adds to our confidence that we will be drilling our offshore Alaska leases by July of next year."

Shell has no guarantee it will be able to commence drilling next year, however, as two of its earlier EPA air quality permits, issued in 2010, have been challenged and overturned by the organisation's appeal board.

Alaska's economy is propped up by oil exploration and extraction and accounts for more than 80 per cent of the state's revenue.

Posted by Joseph Hutton