- "The Arctic has been rendered undrillable," says the former head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, and capital investment would be better used developing renewable energies such as solar and wind to cut carbon emissions.
- Christiana Figueres, who campaigns for a peak in global emissions by 2020, says it makes no economic sense to explore in the Arctic, partly because it is likely to take years to develop any finds.
- In Norway, Statoil (STO +0.1%) and other companies plan to continue exploration in the Arctic Barents Sea, which the company says is "less challenging in terms of weather and waves than many other parts of Norway... We have drilled more than 100 wells and never had any significant accidents or discharges to sea."
- While Figueres says Arctic drilling does not make economic sense, STO says its Johan Castberg field, due to start pumping in the early 2020s off Norway's northern coast, would have a breakeven price of US$31/bbl.
- Separately, STO is set to approve a name change to Equinor, dropping “oil” from its name as its seeks to diversify its business and attract young talent concerned about the impact of fossil fuels on climate change.