Arctic drilling – Oil & Gas 360

$215 million merger forms Greenland Energy to unlock Arctic drilling potential

September 12, 2025

(World Oil) – Pelican Acquisition Corporation has signed a definitive merger agreement with Greenland Exploration Limited and March GL Company, creating Greenland Energy Company. The move positions the new entity as the first U.S. public company dedicated to advancing oil and gas development in Greenland’s Jameson Land Basin, a region long considered one of the most promising undrilled hydrocarbon basins

ConocoPhillips files to expand arctic drilling near $7.5 billion willow project

July 15, 2025

(Oil Price)– ConocoPhillips has submitted a formal application to federal regulators seeking approval to drill four new exploratory wells and conduct seismic testing west of its $7.5 billion Willow oil development in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, Bloomberg reports. The proposal, filed with the Bureau of Land Management, would significantly extend the company’s Arctic footprint and marks its most ambitious exploration

IPC to pursue $62 million acquisition in Canada

February 6, 2023

World Oil (WO) — International Petroleum Corporation (IPC) announced a proposition to acquire Canada’s Cor4 Oil Corp. for roughly $62 million. The acquisition includes total proved plus probable (2P) reserves of 15.9 MMboe as of December 31, 2022. The acquired assets have a forecast average net production of about 4,000 boepd for 2023. The acquisition also includes drilling locations

Tensions will likely grow as China seeks bigger role in the Arctic

May 20, 2021

CNBC China’s ambitions to take a more significant role in the Arctic will likely lead to growing tensions, according to risk consultancy firm Control Risks. China has developed a “prominent presence” in the region since joining the Arctic Council as an observer in 2013, Oksana Antonenko, director at Control Risks, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.” The Arctic Council is made up of

U.S. judge denies effort to stop drilling auction in Arctic refuge

January 6, 2021

Reuters A federal judge in Alaska ruled late on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s planned auction of oil drilling leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) could proceed as planned on Wednesday morning. The order by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason comes after environmental groups and the indigenous people of northeastern Alaska sought a preliminary injunction to block the

Offshore Pain Continues: Shell Cancels $600,000/Day Transocean Rig

December 28, 2015

Polar Pioneer was the Focus of Protests Just Months Ago Royal Dutch Shell (ticker: RDS.B) delivered some bad news for Transocean (ticker: RIG) as companies returned to their respective offices following an extended Christmas weekend. According to a RIG press release, Shell elected to cancel its contract for the Polar Pioneer rig, which was originally scheduled to expire in July

Interior Department Puts Alaska Offshore Lease Programs on Ice

October 19, 2015

Arctic Offshore Leases Cancelled Through 2017; Shell, Statoil Fail to Extend Leases The Chukchi Sea’s 29 billion barrels (U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s estimate of BOE) will have to wait for better times. The U.S. Department of Interior announced last Friday that it will put a halt to future auctions for the current leasing program, which runs through 2017. In

Shell Nearing Arctic Development – Under Watchful Eyes

May 21, 2015

Huge Expectations, Huge Investment “If you talk about 500 million barrels, I don’t think that will cut it. It must be a multi-multi-billion barrel discovery that we have there.” After investing six years and $6 billion of its development capital, Royal Dutch Shell (ticker: RDS.A) is suddenly within earshot of obtaining final approval to begin offshore exploration for oil and

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