The US Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic holds about 30% of the world's undiscovered natural gas, as well as 13% of its oil.  Image copyright AP Image caption Shell had leased rigs for the Arctic but said it did not find sufficient amounts of oil and gas 
 
 The US government has announced new curbs on oil and gas exploration in Arctic waters off Alaska's northern coast. On Friday, the Department of the Interior announced the cancellation of two potential lease sales off the Alaskan coast in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. “I am proud of the performance of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard and others in ensuring that Shell’s program this past season was conducted in accordance with the highest safety and environmental standards.” 
 
 Under the current Five-Year Program, Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 237 was scheduled potentially for 2016. The decisions to nix the lease sales, which the statement attributed to "current market conditions and low industry interest," follows Shell's announcement that it will stop exploration in the Chukchi Sea for "the foreseeable future."  Date: October 16, 2015 
 
 Contact: Jessica Kershaw, Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov 
 
 WASHINGTON – In light of current market conditions and low industry interest, the U.S. Department of the Interior today announced that it will cancel the two potential Arctic offshore lease sales scheduled under the current five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program for 2012-2017. Lois Epstein, an engineer for the environmental group The Wilderness Society, characterized the government's decision as reasonable, according to a statement. In explaining why Shell and Statoil were not given permission to retain their leases beyond 10 years, the Interior Department statement said that the companies "did not demonstrate a reasonable schedule of work for exploration and development." US government leases are due to expire in the Beaufort Sea in 2017 and in the Chukchi Sea in 2020.
– In bad news for the Alaskan economy but good news for polar bears, the US government blocked new offshore drilling in Alaska's Arctic Ocean and refused to extend two existing leases for Arctic drilling on Friday, the New York Times reports. The Interior Department cancelled auctions for drilling rights in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas while declining to extend the Arctic leases of Shell (expires in 2017) and Statoil (expires in 2020), according to NPR. "In light of Shell's announcement, the amount of acreage already under lease, and current market conditions, it does not make sense to prepare for lease sales in the Arctic in the next year and a half," Interior secretary Sally Jewell says in a statement. The Shell announcement Jewell is talking about is the oil giant's decision last month to halt its Arctic drilling after accidents, delays, and $7 billion with nothing to show for it, the Times reports. The moves by the Obama administration Friday basically block drilling in the Alaskan Arctic for two years. It's a decision one Alaskan senator calls "stunning," "destructive," and "shortsighted." But Miyoko Sakashita of the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity tells the BBC it's great news for the Arctic and its wildlife. "We need to keep all the Arctic oil in the ground," she says. The US Geological Survey believes the Arctic holds about 13% of the world's undiscovered oil, but the Times reports offshore Arctic drilling is declining—due to concerns over safety, cost, and the environment—in the US, Canada, and Greenland.