Oil companies seeking to drill in Arctic waters must have emergency equipment capable of reining in runaway subsea wells, a top Obama administration official said, answering a question facing ConocoPhillips and other firms with drilling rights in the region.  More »

ConocoPhillips on Wednesday said it would abandon its plans to begin drilling for oil in Arctic waters north of Alaska because of “uncertainties of evolving federal regulatory requirements” for oil exploration in the region. The move follows similar decisions by Statoil and Shell, which is pausing its own Arctic oil hunt after experiencing several high-profile mishaps last year.  More »

Federal regulators have focused scrutiny on Shell’s Arctic drilling program, but top Obama administration officials say ConocoPhillips and other companies planning to search for oil in the same area better be paying attention.  More »

Drawing on comments filed by a half million Americans in opposition to Arctic drilling, environmentalists are urging President Barack Obama’s nominee for Interior secretary, Sally Jewell, to halt exploration in the region.  More »

The Obama administration on Thursday released the findings of a high-level probe of Shell’s problem-plagued 2012 Arctic drilling season that could dictate what energy companies must do to safeguard future oil exploration in the region.  More »

A massive oceangoing dry-dock is hauling an Arctic drillship to Korea for repair, and another rig is about to make a similar journey, after problems surfaced once the vessels bored exploratory wells for Shell north of Alaska.  More »

Facing mounting regulatory and operational costs, Statoil may abandon its oil leases in U.S. Arctic waters north of Alaska, five years after spending $23 million for the drilling rights.  More »

Shell Oil Co. is calling off its plans to resume hunting for oil in Arctic waters north of Alaska this summer, after a problem-plagued drilling season that ended with the grounding of one of its rigs.  More »

The drillship used to bore part of an Arctic oil well for Shell last summer lacked sufficient propulsion power, had engine problems and posed fire hazards, according to a Coast Guard inspection of the vessel last November and released on Friday.  More »

Shell’s once-grounded Arctic drilling rig is now free to begin its long trek to an Asian shipyard for repairs, with the Coast Guard’s decision Thursday to lift a detention order that has been keeping the vessel in Alaska’s Kiliuda Bay.  More »

Arctic drilling and a climate change crusade don’t mix, environmentalists are asserting today in half-page advertisements in USA Today aimed squarely at President Barack Obama.  More »

New Senate legislation would allow Alaska to collect 37.5 percent of federal dollars tied to oil and gas drilling in Arctic waters near the state, the same share that Gulf Coast states are counting on beginning in 2017.  More »