Shell relinquishes offshore leases in Alaska's Chukchi Sea

Royal Dutch Shell PLC confirmed Tuesday itwill relinquish all but one of its federal offshore leases in theChukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast.

Spokesman Curtis Smith in an email says the move is consistentwith Shell's decision in September to halt exploration off Alaska'sshore for the foreseeable future.

• Shell ends exploration in Arctic near Alaska 'for the foreseeable future'

Smith says separate evaluations are underway for federal offshoreleases in the Beaufort Sea, off Alaska's north shore.

Shell spent $2.1 billion US on 275 Chukchi Sea leases in 2008 and $7billion US overall on Arctic offshore development. Shell was the onlycompany actively drilling in the Chukchi.

An exploratory well drilled last year did not find oil incommercial quantities. Shell said high costs and an unpredictable
federal regulatory requirement also contributed to the decision tohalt drilling off Alaska.