Replies to post #6612 on The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

More on the same topic:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/business/energy-environment/shell-suspends-arctic-drilling-for-2013.html

Shell has invested more than $4.5 billion in leases and equipment and spent several years on an intensive lobbying campaign to persuade federal officials that it could drill safely in the unforgiving waters of the Arctic Ocean. It now acknowledges that the venture has been much more difficult than it anticipated.

Shell had planned to drill as many as 10 wells in 2012 but was able to start only two. Federal regulators barred the company from drilling into oil-bearing formations because it did not have adequate spill prevention and cleanup equipment available.

[DewDiligence]

Shell throws in the towel on Arctic drilling in 2014, and probably ever (IMO):

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304428004579351961251795956

Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday said it would abandon drilling in the U.S. Arctic… The oil major's decision to halt a project in offshore Alaska comes after a federal appeals court ruled last week that the U.S. government improperly relied on "inadequate information" in the process of awarding licenses for exploration there, which the company said Thursday "raises substantial obstacles to Shell's plans."

Reasonable decision; throwing good money after bad is probably not what shareholders want to see from the new CEO regime.