Federal regulators pull back Arctic offshore lease sales

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Three weeks after Royal Dutch Shell announced it was walking away from exploratory drilling in U.S. Arctic waters, the Obama administration has taken steps to keep drill rigs out of Alaska's northern ocean for a decade or more.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced Friday that the federal government is cancelling federal petroleum lease sales in U.S. Arctic waters that were scheduled for 2016 and 2017.

"In light of Shell's announcement, the amount of acreage already under lease and current market conditions, it does not make sense to prepare for lease sales in the Arctic in the next year and a half," she said.

Shell said it was stopping exploration "for the foreseeable future" because of the disappointing results and the uncertain federal regulatory environment.

In denying the extension, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's regional supervisor for field operations, Kevin Pendergast, said Shell had not met the criteria to extend its leases, including providing the agency with a work schedule on them.

The state faces a deficit in the billions between projected spending and revenue because of low oil prices.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, said the Obama administration just robbed Alaskans of a lot of economic hope, at a time when the administration has vowed to help the state fight high rates of suicide, domestic violence and addiction.