Greenpeace celebrates overer Arctic drilling

WASHINGTON: Royal Dutch Shell is ending its efforts to drill in the US Arctic for the “foreseeable future” because it cannot find enough oil to justify the expense, the firm announced yesterday, prompting celebrations from environmental activists Greenpeace.

Shell’s Burger J exploration well, located about 240km from the coast of Alaska’s far-north town of Barrow, will be sealed and abandoned.

“This decision reflects both the Burger J well result, the high costs associated with the project, and the challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska,” it said.

Greenpeace, which ran a high-profile campaign against Shell’s Arctic exploration, said the decision reflected an “unmitigated defeat” for the company.

“The ‘unpredictable regulatory environment’ that forced Shell out of the Arctic is other- wise known as massive pressure from more than 7million people,” said John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK.

“For three years we faced them down, and the people won. Now President Obama should use his remaining months in office to say that no other oil company will be licensed to drill in the American Arctic.”

A Shell statement said the area was “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,” it said.

After years spent trying to clear regulatory hurdles, Shell was given the green light last month by the US government.

Shell’s reversal is a win for Greenpeace and other environmentalists, who argued that the region’s harsh conditions and delicate ecosystem made drilling more dangerous and the potential for accidents greater.

Environmentalists said the decision reflected an ‘unmitigated defeat’ for Royal Dutch Shell