Shell in October said it would scale back its Arctic Ocean exploration plans in 2011 to promising sites in the Beaufort Sea, backing off prospects in the Chukchi Sea until legal questions were cleared. Shell had hoped to drill exploration wells during the 2010 open water season in both areas but its plans were put on hold by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Salazar suspended applications for permits and has announced no timetable for lifting the suspension.

Drilling in Arctic waters is opposed by environmental groups and some Alaska Native groups, who say petroleum companies have not demonstrated an ability to clean up a spill in ice-choked waters. They also say the remote location of drilling sites, the area's notorious inclement weather and the lack of infrastructure, including a deep-water port, would make a cleanup of a major spill nearly impossible.