"Royal Dutch Shell's bid to drill in the Arctic this summer took another step forward on Friday when the U.S. Interior Department approved its oil spill response plan for the Chukchi Sea."

"Shell's response plan would allow the company to rapidly contain a massive spill in the challenging Arctic environment, the department said.

'After an exhaustive review, we have confidence that Shell's plan includes the necessary equipment and personnel pre-staging, training, logistics and communications to act quickly and mount an effective response should a spill occur,' said James Watson, head of the department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

The department said Shell's plan would include a fleet of specially designed ships surrounding the drilling site with equipment able to recover about 80,000 barrels of oil per day in the event of a blowout."

Ayesha Rascoe reports for Reuters February 20, 2012. [2]