Last Atlantic Coast Canadian Exploratory Oil Well Abandoned

[hatrack]

CALGARY - "Nova Scotia's struggling offshore energy sector suffered a potential death blow yesterday with the closure of the only remaining well slated to be drilled by a major oil company.

Marathon Canada Petroleum ULC said its $80-million exploratory well will be "permanently plugged and abandoned" after it failed to find oil, and though the company holds other licences in the area, it has no plans for further drilling.

The Crimson well was the last of the exploration wells being drilled or planned for the province's offshore after a major project from ExxonMobil came up empty two weeks ago. No other wells have been announced.

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In the last four years, major oil companies, from Calgary-based EnCana Corp. to Texas-based ExxonMobil, have spent more than $1.2-billion pursuing costly drilling programs in the Atlantic Ocean off Nova Scotia."

EDIT

[phantom power]

1. it seems like these stories are adding up to quite a patttern, of late