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Shell suspends Arctic drilling plans

Energy World; 01/03/2014

Following a US court ruling, Shell has announced to investors that it is to suspend its drilling operations in the Alaskan Arctic, and will not attempt to locate oil in the region in 2014.

The announcement follows a decision from the US Court of Appeals that the US Department of the Interior had wrongly sold offshore oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea to companies including Shell in 2008. The Court stated that the leases were given without consideration of the full range of environmental risks posed by any drilling, and on a flawed estimate of the amount of oil recoverable.

Shell held the majority of the leases, along with ConocoPhillips and Statoil. Environmental and indigenous groups had launched an appeal against the plans to drill in the region.

The news follows a well-publicised profits warning from Shell to its shareholders where it revised its earning estimates and posted fourth quarter profits $5.6bn down on the same period in 2012. The company blamed lower earnings on oil overcapacity in Europe and Asia, and high refining costs in 2013

News Item details

Journal title: Energy World

Region: Arctic

Countries: USA -

Subjects: Environment, Banking, finance and investment, Law and Legal practice, Oil, Exploration and production