The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management told a US District Court in Alaska on Friday it will have a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the 2008 Chukchi Sea lease sale prepared by August and publication of a Final EIS by February. Under the schedule the final action, publication of the record of decision, would occur in March. Whether Shell would have time to mobilize for a 2015 summer drilling season in the Arctic is uncertain, however. “We are considering the implications of the timeline presented in the status report and continue to work with the Department of Interior. We have made no decisions on the timing for our future exploration plans offshore Alaska,” Shell spokeswoman Meg Baldino said Tuesday in a statement. Shell has been exploring in the region and hopes to resume drilling in 2015 on leases the company acquired in the 2008 lease sale. The […]