NEB report provides "relief" on Arctic offshore drilling

The NEB chose to maintain the Same Season Relief Well policy.
Well done, NEB!
The Same Season Relief Well policy requires any company wishing to drill in the Arctic to demonstrate that, if necessary, it could drill a ‘relief well’ to regain control of a blowout well and ‘kill’ it before the onset of winter.  The policy is a sensible precaution to minimize the risk that a blowout could last throughout the Arctic winter – a catastrophe for the ocean environment.
It isn’t hard to understand why the major oil companies wanted to have the policy scrapped.  After all, the federal government has granted them licenses to explore the deep offshore Beaufort Sea.  They want to go after the oil that could be there.  Yet as the industry itself acknowledges, to drill a relief well in the deep offshore could take two or three Arctic operating seasons.  A same season relief well would be impossible, without the extraordinarily expensive step of simultaneously drilling a second well, just in case.
Why then would the federal government offer the oil companies exploration licenses in the deep offshore Beaufort Sea?  It’s a good question.
If Canadians want to avoid a repeat of the BP Gulf of Mexico disaster, or something even worse, we will insist on a precautionary approach to northern offshore petroleum development.  If a same season relief well cannot be assured, then drilling should not be approved.  This is one performance that should never be attempted without a safety net.

(C) United States Coast Guard
Some commentators have expressed concern about the NEB’s willingness to entertain alternatives to the relief well requirement.  My view is that the NEB has got this right.  If industry can demonstrate it has an alternate approach to protecting the environment that is equivalent to or better than the relief well, then so be it.  That said, we heard nothing at the recent NEB review hearings on Arctic offshore drilling in Inuvik to suggest industry has any plausible alternative.
By reaffirming its precautionary Same Season Relief Well policy, the NEB has demonstrated its commitment to protecting the environment and the people who depend on it.  Again, well done, NEB!