A little more than a month after getting permission from President Obama, Shell announced Monday it will cease drilling in the Arctic after disappointing results.
In a statement released Monday morning, the company announced drilling to 6,800 feet in the Burger J well, about 150 miles from Barrow, Alaska, didn’t find enough oil to warrant further drilling. The well will be sealed and abandoned.
“The Shell Alaska team has operated safely and exceptionally well in every aspect of this year’s exploration program,” said Marvin Odum, director of Shell Upstream Americas. “Shell continues to see important exploration potential in the basin, and the area is likely to ultimately be of strategic importance to Alaska and the US. However, this is a clearly disappointing exploration outcome for this part of the basin.”
The company has decided to abandon further drilling offshore in Alaska for the “foreseeable future” due to the drilling results, high costs of drilling in the area and the “challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska.”
Shell owns a working interest in 275 Outer Continental Shelf blocks, or tracks of seafloor.
The company will now work to remove workers and equipment from the Chukchi Sea, off the coast of Alaska.
The Obama administration approved drilling off the coast of Alaska in August.
