The recent verbal and non-verbal jousting over who owns what oil and natural gas in the Arctic Ocean is better than Ice Station Zebra, the 1960s Cold War thriller that was played out near Santa Claus' abode near the North Pole.
The Associated Press recently reported that Russia is planning extensive research over three years to support its claim to a broad swath of energy-rich territory beneath the Arctic Sea, a top official of the nation's icebreaker fleet said Friday. Moscow claims a large part of the Arctic seabed as its own, arguing that it is an extension of Russia's continental shelf. In 2007, scientists staked a symbolic claim by dropped a canister containing the Russian flag onto the seabed from a small submarine.
Shortly thereafter, the Canadians engaged in some military exercises in that neighborhood. Canada is joined by the United States, Denmark and Norway, which have been asserting jurisdiction over parts of the Arctic.
The interest is stimulated by several factors. Kiplinger's Newsletter said last week that all the aforementioned countries are hoping to lay claim to big stretches off their continental shelves before the United Nations Law of the Sea treaty kicks in late next year. Once it does, it will be tough for any country to legally challenge claims.
The area also is becoming more accessible than it has ever been in recorded history. The Associated Press reported last month that the North Pole will turn into an open sea during summer within a decade, according to data released by a team of explorers who trekked through the Arctic for three months.
Last but not least, the US Energy Information Administration last month said the Arctic holds about 22% of the world's undiscovered conventional oil and natural gas resources, based on the USGS mean estimate. But the EIA also said the high cost and long lead-times of Arctic oil and natural gas development will undercut the immediate importance of these sovereignty claims, while at the same time diminishing the economic incentive to develop those resources.
It doesn't appear those concerns are shared by the Russians or anyone else with a potential claim.
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