Feds' worst-case Arctic oil spill far exceeds planning estimate

The federal agency overseeing offshore drilling in Alaska says a worst-case scenario for a blowout in the Chukchi Sea lease area could put more than 58 million gallons of oil into Arctic waters.

That's far more than the major leaseholder in the Chukchi, Shell Oil, says it could handle under its response plan.
A memo prepared by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement says a blowout worst-case scenario could discharge nearly 2.6 million gallons per day initially.
The agency says discharge from the hypothetical blowout would decline rapidly but could leak more than 58 million gallons in a month.

A Shell spokesman says he hasn't seen the report but the company would not encounter wells of that flow rate for many years into the project.