Chevron halts effort to explore Beaufort

Chevron has suspended plans for Arctic exploration offshore Canada due in part to uncertainty following the drop in oil prices, the company told regulators this week.

Chevron said plans for exploration in the Beaufort Sea were "on hold indefinitely" due "to a number of factors, including the level of economic uncertainty in the industry," according to a letter the US energy giant sent Wednesday to the National Energy Board (NEB).

Chevron's move to halt efforts in the Beaufort, which is heavily regulated due to environmental concerns, is the latest sign of retrenchment in petroleum industry activity in the wake of about a 50 percent decline in oil prices since June.

Marathon Oil on Wednesday said it would trim its 2015 capital budget 20 percent from last year's level, citing the need to manage cash "in the current price environment."

Chevron was at a preliminary stage in the Beaufort and had not yet filed a permit to drill.

In May, it told the NEB that it would seek an alternative for a requirement showing the capacity to drill a relief well in the event of a well blowout, an explosion that can lead to an oil spill.

In July, the NEB outlined a regulatory process for considering Chevron's request and asked for public comment on the Chevron plan.

Among those responding were environmental group WWF-Canada, which opposed "any exemption to the (relief well) requirement that would erode the level of protection afforded to the Arctic environment."