Oil companies with their sights on drilling for oil off Alaska on Wednesday said President Barack Obama’s offshore oil announcement allows them to press ahead with big projects there.

Two companies — Royal Dutch Shell and ConocoPhillips — have spent large sums to secure drilling rights in the remote Chukchi Sea, only to see their plans put on hold by court challenges.

Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Co, Shell’s U.S. arm, said Obama’s plan clears the way for the company to begin exploration drilling this year off Alaska’s northwestern coast.