Shell Oil's exploratory Arctic drilling doesn't begin until this summer, but according to this recently-released video, they're already off a poor start.

The video -- which purports to have been shot at a "private send-off for Shell's arctic rigs ... at the Seattle Space Needle" -- depicts a cocktail dispenser modeled after an oil derrick, which violently erupts all over a female partygoer.

In what may be a jab at Shell's spill record and environmental concerns surrounding their Arctic plans, another partygoer says "I can't turn it off!" when instructed to control the liquor geyser.

Yet the clip, which claims to have been clandestinely shot by Occupy Seattle activist Logan Price, is apparently a spoof. Gawker notes that the website of the event's supposed organizers, a communications firm called Wainwright & Shore, was only registered a month ago, by "a lefty-radical hosting company."

Additionally, a Shell spokesperson allegedly told Grist today, "I can confirm that this was not a Shell event.”

UPDATE 6/7 6:10pm: A press release claiming to have been sent from alerts@shell.com is unconfirmed. The e-mail states, "Lawyers operating on behalf of Royal Dutch Shell plc. (Shell) are considering formal action against unknown activists who staged a counterfeit campaign launch event at the Seattle Space Needle."

StateImpact Pennsylvania alleges, "We called Shell to con­firm the legit­i­macy of the press release. And a Shell spokes­woman says.… the com­pany didn’t put the press release out."

No matter what is real vs. fake, environmentalists remain genuinely concerned about Shell's upcoming Arctic exploration.

As Price himself tweeted:


logan price
drilling should NEVER happen. We must stop it before total and real

Several weeks ago, eight groups appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the EPA air permit granted to Shell's drilling ship, the Kulluk. Earthjustice attorney Colin O'Brien said, according to AP, "EPA did not analyze whether the Kulluk will comply with all standards, and they relied on modeling tricks to reduce the measured impact."

Shell was granted permits to drill in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska by the federal government in March. Government estimates place "26.6 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 130 trillion cubic feet of natural gas" under the Arctic outer continental shelf, explained AP.

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