Extensive drilling was done in the Canadian Arctic during the 1970s and 1980s by such companies as Panarctic Oils Ltd. , Petro Canada and Dome Petroleum . After 176 wells were drilled at a cost of billions of dollars , a modest of oil were found . None of the finds were big enough to pay for the multibillion-dollar production and transportation schemes required to bring the oil out , so all the wells which had been drilled were plugged and abandoned . In addition , after the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 , new rules were introduced which discouraged companies from drilling in the Canadian Arctic offshore
Deepwater Horizon explosion
Deepwater Horizon explosion
Petroleum industry in Canada