In the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and the subsequent US drilling embargo, the approval of Shell’s drilling operations off the Alaskan coast received considerable media attention. However, this year’s planned drilling of three wells in the Chukchi Sea and two in the Beaufort Sea was first reduced to one well and then postponed until next year after a containment dome – an emergency device for stopping a blowout – was damaged.
不仅国家积极争取在北极占据一席之地。大型石油和天然气公司也非常活跃。在2010年英国石油公司（BP）墨西哥湾漏油事故及美国钻探禁令发布后，壳牌在阿拉斯加海岸开展钻探作业的审批工作吸引了众多媒体的关注。不过，今年在楚科奇海钻井三眼和波弗特海钻井两眼的计划先是被缩减到只钻一眼，之后又在安全穹顶（控制井喷的应急装置）受损后再次推迟到明年。