Oil giant's Arctic pullout raises alarms for offshore drillers

Spanish oil giant Repsol’s decision to pull out of the Arctic is sending reverberations of alarm across the oil sector, with industry groups telling the Obama administration it should not use the company’s decision to justify barring future drilling in the icy north.

Repsol’s decision is the latest sign of the toll that low crude oil prices are taking on companies invested in expensive offshore drilling ventures. Even with prices beginning to pick up in recent weeks, the decision shows that modest movements in the market aren’t enough to justify staying in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea.