Documents have revealed a number of companies have given up on leases in the Arctic Ocean less than a year after oil major Shell revealed it would be ending its exploration in the region.
Environmental pressure group Oceana said it had obtained the details of at least three companies relinquishing their leases under the Freedom of Information Act.
The list includes Conoco Phillips, Eni and Iona Energy which recently went into administration.
Oil major Shell was shown to have given up 150 leases with the four companies together having relinquished 350 leases in total, encompassing more than two million acres.
The leases which were given up would have neared their ten-years by 2020.
The federal government in the US is currently considering whether to schedule future sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas.
Last year, the federal government cancelled leases sales in the Arctic Ocean scheduled for 2016 and 2017.
Pacific Senior Counsel Michael LeVine:“Today we are an important step closer to a sustainable future for the Arctic Ocean. After spending more than a decade and billions of dollars, even Shell
has had to recognize that offshore oil exploration in the Arctic is not worth the environmental or economic risks.
“Shell, ConocoPhillips, Iona, Statoil, Total, EnCana and Armstrong have all left the Arctic Ocean.
“Hopefully, today marks the end of the ecologically and economically risky push to drill in the Arctic Ocean.
“As oil companies exit the Arctic Ocean, there is no compelling reason to schedule new lease sales. The best way forward is for the government to remove the Chukchi and Beaufort seas from the 2017-2022 Five-Year Program.
“A clean slate in the Arctic Ocean will allow us to move beyond the risk and controversy of the past to work together toward a sustainable future for Alaska.”