Associated Press – A federal appeals court Thursday removed a legal challenge standing in the way of Shell Oil’s plans to drill exploratory wells off Alaska’s shore this summer. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a case that challenged federal approval of Shell’s exploratory drilling plans in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The expedited ruling followed oral arguments last week in Portland, Ore. The court determined that the federal Minerals Management Service met its obligations to consider the potential threat to wildlife and the risk for disaster before it approved Shell’s Arctic Ocean project. Shell Oil, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell, hopes to drill three exploratory wells in the Chukchi and two in the Beaufort this summer with a 514-foot drilling ship, the Frontier Discoverer.

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More information:

• US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit Court: Native Village of Point Hope v. Ken Salazar (Memorandum, Case No. 09-73942, May 13, 2010).
• Alaska Public Radio Network (APRN): “EPA Challenged on Permits for Shell” (May 04, 2010).
• The Arctic: “Gulf of Mexico Offshore Oil Spill: The Consequences for the Arctic” (May 04, 2010).
• Arctic Focus: “Drill! Baby Drill! Now?” (May 07, 2010).
• The Arctic: “Salazar freezes new drilling permits; Norway questions new drilling as well” (May 09, 2010).
• Audubon Magazine: “Court Backs Shell’s Arctic Offshore Drilling Plans” (May 14, 2010).
• Anchorage Daily News: “Shell tweaks Arctic oil spill safeguards” (May 14, 2010).
• Associated Press: “Drilling critics warn of dangers from a spill in the Arctic” (May 16, 2010).
• Anchorage Daily News: “Delegation united in support of Shell’s Arctic drilling” (May 18, 2010).
• The Guardian: “Shell seeks to drill in Arctic seas this summer” (May 18, 2010).
• New York Times: “Arctic Drilling Proposal Advanced Amid Concern” (May 19, 2010).
• Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (Canada): “IRC Seeks Pause in All Offshore Drilling in the Beaufort Sea,” PDF (May 19, 2010).
• Wall Street Journal: “Lawmakers Ask Obama to Delay Shell’s Arctic Plans” (May 20, 2010).
• WWF: “Shell Oil Unable to Assure Safety of Arctic Drilling; Proposal is “Imagineering, Not Engineering,” Says Former Shell Official” (May 20, 2010).
• Yukon News: “Researcher suggests Arctic oil spill would have dire consequences” (May 21, 2010).
• Alaska Public Radio Network (APRN): “9th Circuit Rejects Challenge to Shell’s Drill Plan” (May 13, 2010).  Click on link for audio podcast, or listen below.
• Wall Street Journal: “Obama to Suspend Arctic Oil Drilling Until 2011” (May 27, 2010).