Business advisory firm Deloitte said the amount of drilling, as well as the number of oil and gas field deals on the UK Continental Shelf, levelled out in the first quarter of this year.

BBC: Deloitte: Prolonged winter subdued North Sea activity

As reserves from the continental shelf decline, the big oil companies can't afford to sit out the riskier game farther offshore.

FORBES: An oilman's last hurrah

These scapegoats rightly pointed out that oil and gas supplies would be meaningfully boosted if restrictions on drilling and exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf and in Alaska were lifted.

FORBES: Magazine Article