Shell to resume Arctic drilling off Alaska

Royal Dutch Shell is to renew its contentious Arctic drilling campaign, spending nearly $3bn over two years in an effort to strike oil in an area that could hold the last untapped oil reserves on Earth
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Regions rich in oil and gas

Arctic estimated to hold 13% (90 billion barrels) of world’s  conventional oil reserves

More than half thought to be in three regions: Arctic Alaska Basin (1), Amerasia Basin (2), and East Greenland Rift Basin (3)
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PACIFIC OCEAN

U.S. Arctic waters thought to hold 34bn barrels of oil

Shell exploration sites

ALASKA U.S. 1

Chukchi Sea: Two oil rigs – Polar Pioneer (above) and Noble Discoverer – plus 30 support vessels and seven aircraft to begin operations late July

Beaufort

Niglintgak

CANADA

Baffin Bay

Kanumas

DENMARK Greenland

2 International waters

North Pole

3 NORWAY

Goliat field: Italy’s Eni and Norway’s Statoil due to start production this summer

ATLANTIC OCEAN

ARCTIC CIRCLE

ARCTIC OCEAN

RUSSIA

1,000km 600 miles

Shell has spent around $6bn in Arctic to date

Environmental campaigners oppose drilling in sensitive region

Shell ceased Arctic exploration in 2012 following oil rig fire and other safety failures
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Sources: USGS, EIA, Shell   

Picture: Associated Press

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