Shell formally shelves Beaufort exploration plan

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Oil major Shell said on Wednesday it has formally withdrawn a three-year plan for exploration in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea after it was stymied by concerns over the potential impact to whales, polar bears and other marine wildlife.

Shell said it informed the U.S. Minerals Management Service that it is shelving its 2007-2009 Beaufort plan and will soon file new exploration plans for 2010 that will be much smaller in scale to address litigation launched by environmentalists and North Slope residents.

“Over the last three years, Shell’s Beaufort Sea drilling objectives have become more focused with the acquisition and analysis of additional seismic data,” Pete Slaiby, Shell Alaska’s general manager, said in a statement. “As a result, the 2007-2009 plan no longer represents Shell’s current drilling approach.”

Shell had originally planned to drill nearly a dozen wells over three years at Sivulliq, a prospect in the Beaufort Sea where oil had been discovered, along with other wells at another Beaufort Sea prospect. The drilling was to have started in 2007 and been completed this year, according to Shell’s original plans.

Reuters