Shell Starts Preparatory Drilling off Alaska

Royal Dutch Shell has begun preparatory drilling for an offshore oil well in the Arctic, the oil company announced Sunday, the first step in a long-controversial project.

U.S. authorities granted Shell permission to begin work on the well in the Chukchi Sea, about 90 miles off the Alaskan North Slope, in late August.

"Today marks the culmination of Shell's six-year effort to explore for potentially significant oil and gas reserves, which are believed to lie under Alaska's Outer Continental Shelf," company spokesman Curtis Smith said in a writen statement. "In the days to come, drilling will continue in the Chukchi Sea, and we will prepare for drilling to commence in the Beaufort Sea."

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