According to several sources Thursday morning, in a conference call with reporters after announcing fourth-quarter results, Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Peter Voser announced what many industry watchers had already been suspecting: Shell's 2011 plans to drill exploratory wells offshore in Alaska are kaput. "There will be no drilling offshore Alaska in 2011," he said. Voser cited ongoing delays in the federal permitting process as the primary reason, but said the company was unwilling to spend extra money ($100 million to $150 million) that would have advanced the 2011 plans because the permits could still be denied. "I'm not prepared to take the uncertainty and pay the money and then not get to the drilling," he said. Voser also called for "urgent and timely action" for Shell's 2012 offshore drilling program to go ahead. Learn more from Platts, here. Bloomberg News, here, and The Wall Street Journal, here, also report on the announcement.