Drill Baby Drill?

Where's that "Drill Baby Drill" Governor when you need her? Two stories this week of disrupted drilling plans. Thanks for doing your part Sarah.

Court voids Shell's Beaufort Sea drill gig
The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a major oil-drilling programme in the Beaufort Sea, ruling that federal officials failed to address environmental impacts when they granted permission to Shell Oil to drill wells over a three-year period.

State nixes Pt. Thomson ice road application, says no valid lease
ExxonMobil Production Co.’s application to permit an ice road to move a drilling rig to Point Thomson has been denied by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, which terminated the unit earlier this year — a decision which the Point Thomson working interest owners, led by Point Thomson operator ExxonMobil, are appealing.

In the good news category -BP to boost Alaska spending:

Budget - BP PLC, Europe's second-largest oil company by market value, plans to increase spending on capital projects in Alaska to $1.2 billion us in 2009 from $900 million this year, said Doug Suttles, president of BP's Alaska unit, at an industry conference in Anchorage.