Royal Dutch Shell has been given permission to begin preparatory work at an exploratory drilling shaft off the coast of Alaska in the Chukchi Sea.

The announcement was made last week (30 August) by both the Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, and James A Watson, Director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

The permit will allow the oil giant to move forward with ‘limited preparatory activities’, primarily concerned with groundwork to increase the safety of any future wells. This will include the digging of mudline cellars 40ft below the seabed, to provide protection for a blowout preventer, as well as the drilling and setting of the first of two strings of pilot holes.

Speaking during the announcement in Washington last Thursday, Watson emphasised the restrictions that came with the permit: “It is our highest priority that any activities that occur offshore Alaska be held to the highest safety, environmental protection, and emergency response standards. Shell’s applications for permits to drill into potential oil reservoirs remain under review, and Shell will not be authorised to drill into areas that may contain oil unless and until the required spill containment system is fully certified, inspected, and located in the Arctic.

“Today’s announcement authorises Shell to move forward with limited activities well short of oil-bearing zones that can be done safely now prior to the certification and arrival of the containment system.”

Under the conditions and requirements set forth in Shell’s Chukchi and Beaufort Sea Exploration and Oil Spill Response Plans, the company must receive certification of its containment systems before being allowed to drill into oil-bearing zones in the two seas. This includes Coast Guard approval of an oil spill response barge that currently remains in port in Washington.

Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, stressed that the permit represented only preliminary steps: "We are allowing certain limited preparatory activities that we know can be done in a safe manner… These activities are essential safety steps that will allow for the installation and protection of the blowout preventer.

"We don't know what's going to happen with Shell and whether they're going to be able to complete a well this year. The situation remains dynamic."

Shell hopes to gain the appropriate certification with enough time to complete the wells before the drilling season expires on 24 September. However, it has also approached the Interior Department for an extension, suggesting that the Chukchi Sea will be ice-free until mid-November. Salazar has said they will only begin to consider an extension once Shell’s oil spill response barge has been approved.

The developments have alarmed environmental activists, with Greenpeace declaring a ‘state of emergency for the Arctic’, explaining: ‘[In] a truly sickening irony, as climate change warms the icy seas, more areas become accessible to industrial development. Even as climate scientists are documenting the retreating ice, Shell is desperately trying to get the stamps on the permits that will allow them to drill for their beloved oil further north than ever before.’

An oil spill in Arctic waters would be incredibly difficult to clean up, as oil becomes more viscous and dissipates more slowly at low temperatures and the natural microorganisms that break it down don’t function well in cold water. Oil trapped under ice is also almost always impossible to detect, and severe weather conditions would hamper any cleanup operations, should they be required.