Shell’s President Tempers Optimism on Lifting of Drilling Ban

The head of Royal Dutch Shell’s U.S. operations is taking a realistic perspective on the lifting of the federal ban on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf.

Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum said Friday that while he’s optimistic drilling activity could take place off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts in the years ahead, there are still major challenges ahead that could prevent new production, including another Congressional moratorium.


The Senate is later in the day expected to lift the decades-old ban on offshore drilling after the House earlier this week was forced by to let the historic moratorium expire in a temporary government funding bill, facing a budget showndown with Republicans and the White House.

“I’m very realistic about what this means,” Odum told reporters in a briefing. “It’s an important signal…that reflects a shift in public sentiment,” the executive said, referring to polls that have shown a surge in voter support for new drilling as oil prices have flirted with record highs.

“But it is a possibility that (the ban) comes right back on,” as many Democrats – who are expecting to gain seats in both the chambers on Capitol Hill, if not in the White House – are threatening to do in the next session of Congress.

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