They're taking their equipment and going home.

After a "disappointing" six-week drilling season, Royal Dutch Shell ended its exploratory operations in the Arctic off the coast of Alaska "for the foreseeable future," the company said on its website Monday.

The company had already been required to finish the bulk of its drilling for the season by Sept. 28 under the permit granted by the Obama administration, but Shell's statement suggests the company may not return to the region once the ice melts next year.



Although Shell crews found oil and gas at what's known as the Burger J well, located in the Chukchi Sea about 150 miles from Barrow, Alaska, the company said the reserves "are not sufficient to warrant further exploration in the Burger prospect."

"Shell will now cease further exploration activity in offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future," the firm said. "This decision reflects both the Burger J well result, the high costs associated with the project, and the challenging and unpredictable federal regulatory environment in offshore Alaska."

Shell had spent $7 billion to drill in the Arctic, even as oil prices have hovered at their lowest point in six years — close to half of what is believed to be the $100 or so break-even price for Arctic drilling. Shell finally won federal approval to begin exploratory drilling in August, briefly overcoming intense opposition from environmental groups that have argued that a spill in the treacherous Arctic is both all too likely and far too difficult to clean.



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The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Interior Department agency that signed off on Shell's drilling proposal, estimated in February that there was "75 percent chance of one or more large spills" from oil drilling in the region in the next 77 years — a figure that Shell, itself, did not dispute.

Greenpeace, which in July brought together dozens of kayaks in an attempt to blockade Arctic-bound Shell drilling rigs in Portland, Oregon, hailed Monday's announcement.

"This is a victory for everyone who has stood up for the Arctic," Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard said in a statement. "Whether they took to kayaks or canoes, rappelled from bridges, or spread the news in their own communities, millions of people around the world have taken action against Arctic drilling. Today they have made history."



Shell told investors it is already bracing for financial fallout from its Monday announcement, expecting a $4.1 billion hit on its balance sheets.