Arctic Oil Reserves Remain Locked Away as Shell Drills Dry Well, Abandons Exploration

摘要

The end to Royal Dutch Shell Plc's $7 billion search for oil in Alaska means billions of barrels of crude will probably remain locked away in Arctic waters from the U.S. to Russia-at least as long as prices remain near $50 a barrel. Shell abandoned exploration off Alaska for the "foreseeable future" on Sept. 28 after it failed to find meaningful quantities of oil or natural gas (38 INER, see related story, 10/7/15). In Russia, sanctions over Ukraine have halted partnerships aimed at exploring offshore in the Arctic, while exploration in Greenland has been on hold since 2012 and activity in Norway is slowing. "This effectively ends exploration for new Arctic oil until prices recover," Ahmed Ben Salem, a Paris-based analyst with Oddo & Cie, said by phone Sept. 29. "Shell was the only company with a strong enough balance sheet that was currently exploring in the Arctic."