By Timothy Gardner
May 4 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell's quest toreturn to Arctic drilling for the first time in three yearscould face delays after Seattle ruled that the city's port mustapply for a permit for the company to use it as a hub fordrilling rigs.
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, a Democrat who has fought againstnew projects by coal and oil companies, applauded therequirement by the city's planning department.
"This is an opportunity for the port and all of us to make abold statement about how oil companies contribute to climatechange, oil spills and other environmental disasters - andreject this short-term lease," Seattle's Mayor Ed Murray said onhis website.
The Puget Sound region has a decades-long history as a hubfor equipment used in energy drilling in Alaska.
But some environmental groups and politicians have pushedfor the region's economy to move beyond oil, gas and coal andinto clean energy.
It is time to focus the economy on electric cars and transitand "environmentally progressive businesses," Murray said.
Shell is hoping to return to Arctic oil and gas explorationfor the first time since 2012, although the U.S. InteriorDepartment has not issued its full blessing yet. During Shell'saccident prone drilling season that year, the Coast Guard had toevacuate crew from an enormous oil rig that eventually groundedand wound up being scrapped.
Shell has been planning to base a drilling rig and tug boatsin Seattle before heading up Arctic waters off Alaska.
While the port is expected to eventually get the permit, theprocess could take weeks or months and delay Shell's Arcticdrilling this year, The Seattle Times reported on Monday.
While the price of oil has fallen over the last year, theArctic is coveted by energy companies for its long termpotential. The Arctic is estimated to contain about 20 percentof the world's undiscovered oil with some 34 million barrels ofoil in U.S. waters alone.
A Shell spokesman said the company was still reviewing theSeattle planning department's move on permit requirements. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
