Late Thursday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Ralph Beistline cleared the way for Statoil USA to proceed with a large-scale seismic study in the Chukchi Sea. The move comes just days after the same judge granted a similar request to Royal Dutch Shell. Both companies feared their ongoing or planned scientific activities were at risk in the wake of a court order halting all activity on leases the judge had ruled were inadequately reviewed by federal regulators.

Shell and Statoil had argued the ruling would cost them millions and force them to cancel projects, and Statoil had stated that unless everything fell into place for the company by Friday, Aug. 6, its project would be sunk.

"There's an awful lot of lawyers in the room. I think we are going to have to double the security," Beistline joked before starting the brief hearing, despite being visibly annoyed with the rushed process given that the two years leading up to this point had proceeded in a fairly methodical, routine manner.

Levity aside, Beistline was also precise and to the point. Why hadn't Statoil spoken up sooner about the dire situation it would be in if its permits for work this summer weren't approved? And why had the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management taken such a broad interpretation of the judge's earlier order? "I don't like to get things piecemeal," he scolded lightly.

An attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Statoil's claims that two federal agencies, BOEM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, were withholding final approvals over fears they would be in violation of the court's order.

"Communication between human beings is perhaps one of the toughest challenges in the world," Beistline remarked as he prepared to clarify his order a second time.

The judge made it clear he never intended for his order to suspend scientific studies.

"I personally believe the more scientific studies gained before exploration begins, if it ever begins, is a good thing," he said. "The order is intended to be narrow."

In 2008, environmental groups and the Native Village of Point Hope had sued to block the lease sale. This summer, they effectively won when Beistline ruled that regulators had failed to look at the impacts of natural gas development and to adequately assess the effect of missing information in the environmental reviews.

Statoil is conducting tests in and out of the lease area affected by Beistline's ruling to determine the potential for petroleum resources in the Chukchi.

Erik Grafe, an attorney for the plaintiffs, argued that Statoil's 3-D seismic mapping of the ocean floor, conducted with air guns, was loud and disruptive and threatened migrating bowhead whales. He also argued that the projects at issue are not scientific studies in the sense of gathering more information about the Arctic environment, but rather exploration activity, since they are directly in support of oil and gas exploration.

Beistline was unpersuaded.

"Scientific analysis is helpful in solving the bigger issue here -- whether we are going to poke holes up there," he said. "I am totally neutral. I don't care what happens up there. It's a long way from home. I just want to make sure it's done right."

Walking out of the courtroom, Karin Berentsen, a health, safety and stakeholder advisor for Statoil in Anchorage, said the company is pleased with the decision, but remains under a tight deadline.

"We have to get moving and get started with the job because we have been waiting for this thing a long time," she said, adding that it will take five days to move the company's boats from Dutch Harbor to the Arctic once all of the approvals are in place.

Contact Jill Burke at jill(at)alaskadispatch.com.