Advocacy groups seek SEC investigation of Shell regulatory filings on Arctic offshore drilling

An ocean advocacy group and a university law clinic are petitioning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an investigation of Royal Dutch Shell PLC and what the group call misstatements in regulatory filings regarding Arctic offshore drilling.

The petition was filed Monday by Oceana and the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School.

The petition says Shell has not adequately disclosed risks of a catastrophic oil spill.

The petition also says the company claims litigation by drilling opponents threatens its Arctic drilling prospects but that the threat has not been fully disclosed to investors.

Shell hopes to drill this summer in the Chukchi (chuk-CHEE') Sea off Alaska's northwest coast with two drilling units.

Conservation organizations say Shell can't drill safely in the harsh, remote Arctic.