FT: Shell Seeks Extension to Arctic Leases

LONDON - Royal Dutch Shell PLC has been in talks with the U.S. government over extending its leases for oil development in the Arctic seas north of Alaska, after its drilling program was held up by legal actions and objections from regulators, reports the Financial Times.

The first of Shell's Arctic leases to expire will run out in 2015 and the oil multinational has begun talking to the U.S. interior department in the hope of agreeing early extensions to its drilling rights, it said.

Pete Slaiby, Shell's vice-president for Alaska, told the newspaper: "I strongly suggest that the department of the interior needs to be more sensitive to the fact that we have struggled with a number of legal and regulatory challenges."

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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