Shell to Halt Drilling in Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc will halt drilling in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi Seas for the remainder of the year.

“We’ve made progress in Alaska, but this is a long-term program that we are pursuing in a safe and measured way,” Marvin Odum, Shell’s director of Americas oil exploration and production, said in a statement today. “Our decision to pause in 2013 will give us time to ensure the readiness of all our equipment and people following the drilling season in 2012.”

Alaska remains an area with high potential for Shell over the long term, and the company is committed to drill there again in the future. If exploration proves successful, resources there would take years to develop, the company said in the statement.