January, 30 2014, 02:21pm EDT
Shell Scraps 2014 Arctic Drilling Plans
Amsterdam
Speaking with investors today, Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden announced that the company would not attempt to drill in the Alaskan Arctic in 2014.
The decision follows a US court ruling last week which demands more detailed environmental information from the US administration, following a legal challenge from a number of environmental and Indigenous groups.
Responding to the news, Greenpeace International Arctic oil campaigner Charlie Kronick said:
"Shell's decision to gamble on the Arctic was a mistake of epic proportions. The company has spent huge amounts of time and money on a project that has delivered nothing apart from bad publicity and a reputation for incompetence. The only wise decision at this point is for Mr. Van Beurden to cut his company's losses and scrap any future plans to drill in the remote Arctic ocean.
"Shell's Arctic failure is being watched closely by other oil companies, who must now conclude that this region is too remote, too hostile and too iconic to be worth exploring. In an era of declining profits, increasing costs and unprecedented levels of public scrutiny the Arctic is simply not worth the risk.
"Millions of people around the world have helped to shine a light on Arctic drilling and this has started to affect Shell's brand [1]. We will continue to increase this pressure as long as the company continues its stubborn pursuit of the fragile Arctic environment. This is one of the defining environmental issues of our time. We are drawing a line in the ice here to say to these oil companies 'you come no further'."
Shell has spent over $5bn on its Alaska program since 2003, and has failed to drill a single well after a series of blunders and near disasters during an accident prone drilling season in 2012.
Since late December alone, over 150,000 people have written to Shell's new CEO Ben Van Beurden asking him to scrap the company's Arctic plans and recognise the unique technical challenges of operating in this environment.
ENDS
Contact:
Greenpeace International press desk: +31 20 718 24 70 or pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org
Greenpeace International picture desk: +31 20 718 24 71
Greenpeace International video desk: +31 6 46 16 2024
Notes:
[1] Nick Butler's Financial Times blog can be viewed here (FT Subscribers only).
The Greenpeace Shell petition can be viewed here.
For Shell's news release see here.
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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