AN OPEN LETTER TO THE TRAVELERS INSURANCE COMPANY AND ITS SHAREHOLDERS:
The Travelers must consider the risks to its shareholders before agreeing to insure drilling operations for oil and gas in the Arctic.
To begin with, the weather conditions are variable and fickle in the Arctic. The worst can come in an instant. The worst conditions include at one and the same time sudden freezing, gale winds, enormously choppy seas, and rain and snow -- all simultaneously. This greatly increases the risk not simply of a loss but of a catastrophic loss which would not be in the best interests of your shareholders to insure.
Second, the drilling operations are in places that necessitate long supply lines which are subject to the weather and the geographical conditions as well, such as ice packs in the sea and frozen ground where drilling operations take place on ground. The geography of Arctic drilling also increases not just the risk of a loss but it increases the risk of a catastrophic loss.
Third, the oil and gas industry collectively is known as a group of companies and individuals which routinely take risks in order to do their work. In the Arctic, however, the risks of this work are not simply losses in the ordinary course of their business. In the Arctic, the risks are huge and the likely losses would be catastrophic. Drilling inherently involves taking a risk; drilling in the Arctic is reckless and involves the kind of risk to which you should not expose your shareholders.
For all these reasons, the risks to The Travelers shareholders outweigh the benefits by huge margins and drilling operations in the Arctic pose too great a risk to the company to insure.
Thank you.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2022 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
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