While it seems most Arctic exploration activity has slowed, it really depends on where you look. Bruce McMichael reports. Gazprom Neft’s Prirazlomnoye facility, in the Russian Arctic. Photos from Gazprom Neft…
The Russian government is temporarily banning new licenses for offshore field development on the Russian Arctic shelf, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Minister Sergei Donskoi has said. The move appears to be aimed at focusing investment on existing development projects…
New and 'final' regulations regarding drilling in the US Arctic have been jointly issued by the country's authorities, including a requirement to have a relief rig on standby and containment equipment. Image from BSEE Twitter…
Supermajor Shell has donated nearly 9000sq km of its Arctic exploration permits to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to support a national marine conservation area off the coast of Nunavut. Image from Nature Conservancy of Canada…
Several supermajor oil and gas companies including Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell, Italian giant Eni, and US supermajor ConocoPhillips have surrendered more than 2 million acres in the Chukchi Sea. The Polar Pioneer…
The Obama Administration has decided to rescind a proposal to drill off the US Atlantic Coast in 13 areas, due to current market dynamics, strong local opposition, and conflicts with competing commercial and military ocean uses, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) said today (15 March)…
Earthjustice, on behalf of eight conservation groups, filed to intervene in a case before the Interior Board of Land Appeals to defend the Department of Interior’s (DOI) decision to deny Shell’s request for an extension of the terms of its oil drilling leases in the Arctic Ocean…
The US is losing its opportunity to lay claim to Arctic exploration, falling behind countries such as Norway and Russia. Now with Shell and Statoil exiting Alaska’s offshore, many in the industry and in politics are wondering how to salvage Alaskan offshore exploration…
The US Department of the Interior announced it will cancel two planned Arctic offshore lease sales under the US government’s current five-year plan for 2012-2017 due to Shell’s failed Arctic campaign and current market conditions, which left…
Arctic drilling has made headlines since the announcement of Shell’s 2015 summer drilling campaign. Paired with the low oil prices due to a surplus of supply, many people wonder why we even need to drill in the Arctic when there is so much oil right now…
Shell is ceasing further exploration offshore Alaska after the company's Burger J prospect failed to prove oil, resulting in a multi billion dollar write-down. The Transocean Polar Pioneer “Shell…
Two Norwegian polar researchers have returned from a project to collect seismic data over an area of the Arctic usually inaccessible to seismic vessels. The pair, Yngve Kristoffersen and Audun Tholfsen, deployed their ice drift technique…
The US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has given Shell final approval to drill into deeper into hydrocarbon-bearing zones at its Burger J prospect in the Chukchi Sea, off Alaska, in the US Arctic. “After extensive review and under a robust array of safety requirements…
The Transocean Polar Pioneer semisubmersible officially began Shell’s US$1 billion Arctic drilling program in the Chukchi Sea on 30 July. The Polar Pioneer. From Transocean. Drilling operations began at Shell’s Burger J prospect…
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) inspected Shell’s drilling rigs for its US$1 billion Arctic drilling program, the Noble Discoverer, Polar Pioneer and the Fennica icebreaker vessel in Alaska. Pre…
