Oil Titans Mulling Arctic Drilling Targeted by Activist Groups

More than 250 environmental and indigenous groups are warning some of the world’s biggest energy companies of a backlash if they participate in a government auction of Arctic refuge drilling rights, saying that neither the planet nor their shareholders can tolerate the risk of oil exploration in one of the world’s fastest-warming places.

The organizations, which represent at least 27 million members, made their initial push Thursday in asking the heads of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips and Hilcorp Energy Co. to forswear Arctic refuge drilling rights. The effort mirrors a lobbying campaign that already drove five of the six largest U.S. banks to rule out financing oil development projects in the region and signals the kind of public scrutiny awaiting companies that pursue drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.