There is unexplored oil on the order of 90 billion barrels and 1.67 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, according to a U.S. Geological Survey report, but most of the natural gas lies in the Arctic Ocean closest to Russia. The U.K.-based oil company, BP, PLC, has signed a $17-billion exploration deal with Russia in the hopes of replacing the declining output of its current fields in the North Sea.
Norway's state-owned Statoil has cold-weather expertise with which it hopes to exploit deposits in the Barents Sea, and Canada-based Imperial Oil is among a handful of companies bidding on Canadian claims in the Beaufort Sea. "Seismic will help us determine where we might want to drill, but ultimately we won't know if we've picked the wrong place until we've actually created a well," says Glen McCrimmon, Imperial's geoscience manager for the area.
Aside from already valuable commodities like oil and natural gas, the world's next alternative energy source may lie trapped in the Arctic ice itself. Gas hydrates—a mixture of ice and methane—are found only in high-pressure and cold temperatures. Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation has bankrolled much of the research into depressurizing deposits a mile under the ocean surface. "People realized, 'Holy cow, this stuff starts bubbling and fizzing when you get it on deck. It's actually flammable. What the heck is it?'" says David Scott, manager of the Northern Resources Development Program for Natural Resources Canada. Gas hydrates are expected to make up a significant portion of the energy mix once existing oil fields dwindle, Scott says.
Even with the best geophysical data, there will still be political questions. The largest feature that demands negotiating is the Lomonosov Ridge, which transects the Arctic Ocean, extending 1,240 miles (2,000 kilometers) from Siberia to Greenland and Canada's Ellesmere Island. "It is possible that the Lomonosov Ridge is attached to all three," says Jorn Skov Nielsen, deputy minister of minerals and petroleum for the Greenland Home Rule Government. "Our geological investigation may find that the North Pole area is part of Greenland's shelf."
Lomonosov was likely a slice of the Siberian shelf that broke off northward during the Cenozoic era when the Eurasian Basin opened up on the Arctic Ocean floor, but its current ties to Russia are disputed. Russia, Canada and Denmark may all end up claiming the ridge—and the rich resources connected to it.
"It's hard to imagine the ridge is continuous for such a long distance," contends Benoit Beauchamp, director of the Arctic Institute of North America in Calgary, Alberta. "But it's not rocket science to find out. Just expensive and hard to access under the ice."
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Add CommentA useful resource to support this article is IBRU's map of Maritime Jurisdiction and Boundaries in the Arctic Region. The map is the most precise depiction yet of the limits and the future dividing lines that could be drawn across the Arctic region. The map and breifing notes can be viewed at www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/resources/arctic. IBRU is the International Boundaries Research Unit at Durham University, UK.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is a very important discovery that plays a great role in the international economy- yet has anyone taken into consideration how the partition and usage of more oil and gas reserves will affect the health of the environment? I think the fact that we were beginning to run low on this resource was a blessing in disguise, a chance for us to focus on sustaining the earth. Apparently the Almighty Dollar has and will alway come first.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNations cannot produce title deeds to claim north polar undersea terrirory. Therefore as those lands lie under international waters, the ressources belong to the whole of humanity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOnly solution is to reduce oil and gas dependency.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPlease reduce your travel. Buy local.