Staking claims to the Arctic

Big big oil and gas stakes are increasingly being disputed in the Arctic Ocean area. The US has given the green signal to Shell on drilling in the Arctic. Already, Russia's Gazprom is involved with France's Total and Norway's Statoil in developing the Shtokman field, on Russia's northern coast.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Arctic may hold about one fifth of the world's remaining oil and gas reserves.

Until recently, areas along that coast were considered barely accessible, but with the summer ice thinning radically, ships are now able to traverse the fabled Northeast Passage, linking the North Atlantic to the northern Pacific. As one recent report noted, “A Norwegian cargo ship has already traversed the Northeast Passage faster than expected and without encountering any major challenges."

Norway and Russia are maneuvering for position in the Barents Sea, where Statoil recently made its biggest find in decades, advancing their claims at the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. Denmark is engaged in the same kind of struggle with Russia over seabed north of Greenland.

Canada is purchasing eight new armed ice-breaking patrol ships, has been conducting Arctic military exercises, and is constructing a base on Ellesmere Island.

Who does the Arctic belong to? Who does its resources belong to? More important, can we afford to drill in this eco-sensitive region with its ice cover fast shrinking?