Why Shell sticks to Chukchi plans, despite obstacles

Despite tumbling oil prices, rising costs, legal woes, heated political opposition and a series of missteps and misadventures, Royal Dutch Shell is pushing forward with its plan to drill for oil in the offshore regions of Alaska's remote Chukchi Sea. Why? Alaska Dispatch News asks - and answers:

In a wide-ranging narrative, Bloomberg Business details the company's struggles in Alaska's Arctic waters, and why it decided, after intense deliberation, to continue efforts to develop the Chukchi prospect.

At current oil prices, the Chukchi project won’t be economic, but it is competitive at $70-a-barrel oil and lucrative at $110-a-barrel oil, Bloomberg Business reports. "It's just too big a prize," Ann Pickard, Shell’s executive vice president for the Arctic  tells Bloomberg Business. "We can't afford to leave it all there."