Shell Abandons Arctic Ocean Drilling - Oceana

Shell Abandons Arctic Ocean Drilling

Press Release Date: September 28, 2015

Location: JUNEAU, AK

Contact:

Anna Baxter | email: abaxter@oceana.org
Anna Baxter

Today, Shell Oil announced it will cease further exploration for oil in the Arctic Ocean after coming up dry at the Burger prospect in the U.S. Chukchi Sea. The company’s efforts have cost it billions of dollars and created significant controversy.  Shell’s last efforts to operate in the Arctic in 2012 led to a series of mishaps, fines, government investigations, and, most famously, the grounding of the drill rig Kulluk.

In response to the announcement, Oceana’s deputy vice president for the Pacific, Susan Murray, issued the following statement:

“The future of the Arctic Ocean just got a little bit brighter. With this pipe dream ended, we can now stop arguing about Shell and focus on moving forward. As President Obama saw first-hand, there are many challenges in the Arctic region, and we can use this opportunity to address changing climate and the need to protect and conserve important ocean resources. Shell’s announcement today allows the government to take a step back to apply careful planning, precaution, and science to forge a sustainable future for the Arctic.”

Please use the following link to share this release: http://bit.ly/1QIOl0W.

To learn more about Oceana’s campaign to protect the Arctic Ocean from offshore drilling for oil, please visit www.usa.oceana.org/arctic/shellrisk.