STATE CAP I TOL 1'0
. B ox I I 0 00 I j uneau . AK 9981 1-000 I 907-465-3500 fax: 907-465-3532 

## Governor 

# Bi ll Walke r S

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T E O F A L ASKA April29, 2015
Dr. James Kendall Ala s ka R egio n Directo r Bureau o f Ocean Energy Management 3801 Centerp oint Drive, S u i te 500 Ancho r age, AK 99503

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## 5 ZOi5 Reg i onal Di re cl or, A l aska OCS Burea u o f Ocean En e r gy Management An cho r age , Alaska 550 West Seventh Avenue
. Suite 1700 Anchorage. AK 9950 I 907-269 - 7450 fax 907 - 269-746 1 1mw. Gov.Aiaska
. G ov G overnor@Alas k a .Gov

Re. Rev i sed S hell G ulf of Mexico, Inc
. 2015 C hukchi Sea bx p lo ratio n Plan ( H

.. ev i s ion 2) Call for Comments D ea r Dr. Kendall : T h an k yo u for the opportu ni ty to review the S hell G u l f o f Mexico, lnc. (S h e ll) Re v i sed 201 5 C hukchi Sea Ex p lora ti on P lan (E P)
. The S tate of A laska remain s full y s upp o r tive of S hell 's effons to conduct ex plo ratory drilling in th e C h ukchi Se a. It is imp ortant that sa f ety and e n v ironmenta l s tandard s protect A laska's water s and coastli n e , a s we ll as o ur citize n s' a cce ss to h eal th y and su stainab le s ub s i s tenc e re so urces. We s upp ort the operatio nal s tandards th at ha ve been included in the E P to enab le S he ll to res pond to a range o f s pill vol u mes, from sma ll o pera tio n al sp ill s up to a nd including a worst ca se discharge eve nt as so ciated with a b lowout. Respon s ibl e exp loration of Alaska's O uter Co ntinenta l S h e l f (OCS) is cr i tical n o t onl y to A las ka 's econom y, but to th e eco n o m y of the nation
. Th e S tate of A laska a n d A laskans alike c on tinue to have a tremendous stake in th e timel y progress and s ucce ss ful com pl etion of lea s ing, exp lo r ation, and de velo pment of Ala s ka 's OCS resources. In a s tud y conducte d by th e Univers i ty of A las ka Anc h o ra ge In stit ute of Soc ial and E conomic Re sea rch (I SER) , th e U
. S
. economy would see an addition of 5 4, 000 annual job s, peakin g at ove r 9 1 ,000, wit h a 5145 billion payroll over a 50- year p eriod as a re s ult of A laska n OCS development. 

### Pot e ntial Natio nal L eJJe/**Ben~fits** 

### of Alaska OCS Deve lopmwt, p.ES

- 1 , Febmary, 2011. De v elopment of cl1e OCS could ge nerate approximate ly 5193 billion in government revenue. OCS deve lo pm ent is a lso a prime so u rce of the continued h ea l th and diver s ity of Alaska's o n s hore oil industr y. Production from the OCS cou ld have se veral po s itive effects including lower p ip eline tariff s , extending the life of the Trans-A laska Pipeline System (fA P S) pipe li ne , a more robust and lower co st service indu stry, a nd longer

- lived o nshore facilities; all of whic h ar e critica l given the declining TAPS throughput an d growing concern of TAPS operatio n al challenges wid1 o ut additiona l supp l y . Deve lopment of the OCS would al so g re a tl y help sec ure o ur nati o n' s e nergy needs. S tudie s estimate iliat tl1e OCS contain s 27 billion b arrels of conventi o na l o il and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.Dr. J ames Kendall S hell C huk chi Sea 2015 EP April29, 20 1 5 Page 2
S tudie s hav e al so s h ow n that A la s ka' s Beaufort and C hukchi Sea de v elopment could r es ult in the production o f 7 00 ,000 barre l s of oil per da y for 40 years , in turn supp l y

ing m o re job s, incomes, and energy for our s tate and nati o n, lowerin g o ur nation' s trade deficit, and hel p in g to meet Pre s ident Obama's goal o f reducing the nati o n 's reliance o n forei g n oil. In 2011 , S hell s ubmitte d to the Bureau o f Ocean E nergy and Ma n agement (BOE.M) a re v ised E P (E P Re v i sion 1 )
. This EP was subseq u ently approved by BO EM in December 2011. In accorda n ce 

### with the term s and conditions of BOEM' s prior appro va l of E P Revi sion 1, S h e ll plans to continue exploration d1·illing operations at it s Burg er Prosp ect in th e C hu kchi Sea. This EP R ev i si o n 2 include s She ll 's plan s to re s ume drilling operations at the currently approved drill sites lo cated at the Burger Prospect. She ll plan s to drill all sLx ex ploration wells u si n g e itl1 er the Di s co v erer and/or the Mo bil e Offshore Drilling U nit (MODU) Transocean Polar Pioneer (Po lar Pioneer). E P Revision 2 includ es s imulta neou s use o f both drilling unit s, plus so me additional s upp or t vess el s; whereas in EP Revi s ion 1 only the drillship Disco ve rer was used. The State of ! \Ia s ka continues to work closely witl1 BO EM to review S hell' s s ubmitted EP and has prov ided subj ect matter expertise as a Cooperating Agency during the Plan rev iew. I thank yo u f o r the opportunity to prov ide comments o n She ll 's Revi s ed OCS C huk c hi Se a Ex plorati o n Pl a n. We look forward to working w ith B OEM o n thi s pl a n and futur e actions in the OCS. S incerel y,

Bill Wa lker Gove rnor
cc: T h e H onorab l e Ma rk Myers , Com mi ss io n e r, A las ka Department of Natu ral Re sources C raig Fleener , Arctic Polic y Advisor, Office of tl1e Governor Kip Knudson, Direc to r of Sta te and Federal Relation s, Office of the Gove rn o r Sara Longan, Exe cuti ve Director, Office of Project Management and Permittin g, A laska Department o f_ atura l Re so urc es