Shell offshore drilling

• ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected arguments by a coalition of environmental groups, who maintain that U.S. regulators failed to thoroughly review the potential dangers of drilling new deep wells in the Gulf of Mexico.
(Huffington Post)
• Mr. Salazar, while acknowledging that the Arctic presented unique environmental and safety challenges for oil and gas operations, said he was confident that Shell would meet the Interior Departments new standards for offshore drilling.
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Salazar was confident Shell would receive the final permits for exploratory drilling this summer The Arctic areas will be part of Interiors five-year offshore lease plan being sent to Congress on Thursday.
(msnbc.com)
• Two vessels fitted with drilling rigs left Seattle Wednesday for Alaska.     The Kulluk and Noble Discoverer and support ships are headed first to Dutch Harbor.
(msnbc.com)
• Shells proposed drilling is slated for areas it leased in 2005 The administrations plan for new oil exploration in the region is embedded in a final schedule of offshore lease sales over the next five years that is set to be released soon.
(Houston Chronicle)
• Emphasizing that reviews are still under way, US Sec. of the Interior Ken Salazar said Shell Offshore Inc. appears likely to receive permits to begin drilling its Beaufort and Chukchi Sea leases offshore Alaska this summer.
(Oil & Gas Journal)
• The disaster, however, led to a new focus on industry dangers and to the creation of the Center for Offshore Safety, which is charged with developing audit procedures and certifying auditors.
(Houston Chronicle)
• According to the U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management – which oversees offshore drilling – the lease sale collected more than $1.7 billion from oil and gas companies. Energy majors Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDS.
(Yahoo Finance)
• Michelle will explore the question, "Are oil sands a viable alternative to offshore drilling." The federal government spends an estimated $5 billion a year in clean energy research, development and deployment.
(CNBC)