Shell Oil has announced that it will stop its controversial exploratory drilling for oil and gas in Arctic waters for the foreseeable
future, saying in a statement that the reserves it had discovered were not “sufficient to warrant further exploration.” Shell began operating its first exploration well on July 30, 2015, in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska. But the company reported that although it had found indications of the presence of oil and gas, the reserves in the basin where they were drilling were, in the words of one company official, “clearly disappointing.” Under Shell’s federally approved exploration plan, all rigs and support vessels must leave the Chukchi Sea before the end of October. Environmental groups hailed Shell’s announcement.
Shell’s Polar Pioneer rig as it left Seattle for the Arctic