Arctic drilling close for Shell, but still elusive

Washington Post: Seven years and $4.5 billion after it bought leases to explore for oil off Alaska's Arctic coast, Royal Dutch Shell is finally close to drilling a well in the pristine Chukchi Sea, confident that it will discover a vast oil reservoir buried thousands of feet below the seafloor. "This is kind of like Christmas Eve," said Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R). "We can't wait to see if Santa comes." But Santa's path has not been smooth. The thickest ice in a decade, along with problems in obtaining a permit...

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/arctic-drilling-close-for-shell-but-still-elusive/2012/07/20/gJQATHdRyW_story.html