PHILLIPS: All week we have been going "In Depth" on the battle for oil in the Arctic. It may be the last frontier, but with high reward, comes high risk. CNN's Miguel Marquez shows us what one American company is doing to drill where no man has drilled before and what people who live close to the area think about it.</s>MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The race for oil and gas in the Arctic is on. Way out ahead, the Russians, Norwegians, Danes, even Canada. When Shell Oil drills exploratory wells off Alaska's North Slope this summer potential U.S. oil fields, too, will be in the game, a game that will test Shell's technical abilities. Above all, ice will be one of the biggest challenges.</s>PETE SLAIBY, VICE PRESIDENT, SHELL ALASKA: We do recognize we'll be working in ice. Our assets are developed to work in ice.</s>MARQUEZ: Drilling the exploratory wells in the Boford (ph) and Chuksea Seas will be two drilling rigs that have operated in ice before. Each will be anchored to the sea floor by eight massive cables. The cable array can be severed. The rigs can float free in the event of an emergency. (on camera): This is America's last frontier and one of the most pristine and fragile wilderness areas left in the world. If Shell finds what it thinks it will under the ocean this summer, it will cause a gold rush for oil for decades to come. (voice-over): That will mean permanent production wells. They will be heavy and very big, fully enclosed cement-and-steel structures, so workers can survive year round. Hovercraft would allow escape over ice. It would be concave as tons of ice crushes in, it would run up the side and then curl back on itself. But it's --
Race for Oil, Gas in Arctic Is On