Shell scraps drilling plan in contested B.C. area – National Post

Dec 19 2012

VICTORIA — The remote alpine birthplace of three majestic, salmon-rich rivers has been saved from potentially harmful oil-and-gas development in a remote area of northwestern British Columbia.

The B.C. government announced a deal Tuesday with Shell Canada Ltd., and the Tahltan Central Council that will see Shell withdraw its plans to explore and drill for coalbed methane gas in a 4,000-square-kilometre region known as the Klappan at the confluence of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena rivers.

In 2005, some members of the Tahltan were arrested during protests in the area, which the First Nation calls the Sacred Headwaters.

Shell drilled three exploration wells starting in 2004, but in 2008, agreed to an amendment of its petroleum and natural-gas tenure, which suspended further exploration activities in the area for a maximum of four years.

Read more: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/12/19/shell-scraps-drilling-plan-in-contested-b-c-area/