The Obama administration has decided to extend the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling for six months, while a special commission studies the reasons for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
This puts a halt to Shell Oil's (NYSE: RDS-A) plans to begin exploratory drilling this summer in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off the coast of Alaska. This is likely to please many environmentalists who oppose the drilling, but it further complicates the political landscape for climate and energy legislation in the US Senate.
An August lease sale in the western Gulf also will be canceled.
Obama is also expected to announce tougher safety requirments for offshore oil drilling during a White House news conference today.
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