While environmentalists won a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case in January 2014 which declared that Shell's Chukchi-based Lease Sale 193 was unlawfully held, the US Department of Interior issued a Record of Decision which affirmed the sale and the oil and gas licences associated with it yesterday.
Shell said this cleared the way for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to conclude its review and make a decision on its revised Chukchi Sea exploration plan.
"The execution of that plan remains contingent on achieving the necessary permits, legal certainty and Shell Alaska's own determination that we are prepared to explore safely and responsibly," the supermajor said.
A BOEM review of Shell's plans is expected to take at least 30 days from when it starts.
Shell spent about $US5 billion ($A6.54) in its previously unsuccessful oil exploration campaign in this region. The Kulluk grounding occurring on the last day of 2012 after it drifted away from a tugboat when the towing line failed in bad weather. The unit was scrapped in 2014 with repairs not economically feasible.
