From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   CBC News Posted: Jun 26, 2015   
      
   Imperial Oil, BP delay Beaufort Sea drilling plans indefinitely   
      
   Companies had planned to begin drilling by 2020   
      
      
   Imperial Oil and BP have delayed plans to drill for oil in the Beaufort Sea   
   off the Northwest Territories.   
      
   In a letter sent to the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation's Environmental Impact   
   Review Board on Friday morning, Lee Willis, Imperial Oil's exploration   
   operations manager, says the companies have suspended all regulatory work for   
   the project.   
      
   They had hoped to begin drilling by the summer of 2020, the same year one of   
   their two exploration licences expires.   
      
   "However, under the current licence term, there is insufficient time to   
   conduct the necessary technical work and complete the regulatory process,"   
   Willis wrote.   
      
   The companies are in discussions with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern   
   Development Canada -- which sold the exploration rights to the companies for a   
   combined $1.8 billion -- about extending the terms of their licences by   
   several years to 2028.   
      
   "If approved, the extension would provide sufficient time to undertake the   
   necessary technical studies and develop the technology and processes to   
   support responsible development in the Beaufort Sea," said Willis   
      
   Before Friday's announcement, Imperial Oil had been expected to share its plan   
   for how it would respond to an oil spill in the offshore to the National   
   Energy Board and the Environmental Impact Review Board. The plan was expected   
   in the third quarter of    
   this year.    
      
   The companies plan to keep open their Inuvik, N.W.T. office, collect data on   
   sea ice, and continue to prepare N.W.T. communities for the employment and   
   business opportunities the project may one day bring.    
      
   Chevron Canada made a similar announcement last December, putting its plans to   
   drill in the Beaufort Sea on hold and citing "economic uncertainty."    
      
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