In what is sure to be only the latest event in a long case of protracted legal wrangling, a San Francisco federal appeals court has ordered Royal Dutch Shell Plc's (NYSE: RDS.A) vessels to stop all operations in the Beaufort and Chuckchi Seas. Environmental groups and Eskimo villages are seeking greater research into the effect drilling will have on marine wildlife in the region, and the judge agreed to give them time.

Shell isn't too happy. The company claims to have spent $200 million on the project already, including extensive research on the effect drilling will have on the environment, and has also formulated a plan to deal with oil spills. Of course, it's easy to be skeptical of an oil company's studies on environmental impact.

The Department of the Interior has supported drilling but, given the recent scandals involving global warming and political pressure on scientists, the department is not as high on credibility as it once was.

Given the amount of time it will take for any oil from the region to be brought to market, and the relatively small amount that is thought to be feasible for drilling, this probably won't have a material impact on energy prices anytime soon.

U.S. Department of the Interior officials may have deliberately removed provisions from offshore drilling contracts, giving oil companies a multibillion-dollar windfall, two Republican congressmen are charging. And the government may have already lost $2 billion in royalties owed and may lose another $8 billion yet on the term left on the 1990's leases, according to the Reps. Tom Davis of Va. and Darryl Issa of Calif.

The congressmen are demanding more information on the leases, which are for deep sea oil drilling operations, from the Secretary for the Interior. The Interior's inspector general has also opened an investigation.

Evidently, a provision in the leases that would have paid substantially increased royalties in the event of soaring gas and oil prices -- such as we are experiencing right now -- was left out of the contracts. And the congressmen believe there's indication that the omission was no mistake. They have "the impression" that Interior has been less than open -- by withholding emails and other evidence of the transaction.

The oil industry has certainly been embarrassed quarter after quarter of late, by news of unprecedented profits. Nah, I take that back, I don't know whether or not the oil industry is capable of feeling embarrassment at anything.