The 1.2 million square kilometers of the Arctic seabed — the new frontier in the global quest for energy — is suddenly in headlines.
Virtually all the wars and major expeditions in recent times, from Iraq to Afghanistan, have somehow been linked to the energy riches. This new front, beneath the North Pole, also does not appear to be too different.
Earlier this month, two Russian mini-submarines made a soft landing on the yellowish gravel plunging to a depth of 2 1/2 miles (13,980 ft) beneath the ice to plant a huge titanium Russian flag on the seabed. And the ripples were felt all around. It was not simply the panache of scientific adventure; it was staking Russia’s claim to the “huge oil and mineral resources” beneath the polar ice cap.
The US Energy Information Agency said the region carries almost 25 percent of world’s undiscovered energy riches. Russian geologists argue that the area contains (at least) 10 billion tons of oil and gas and some other estimates put the total closer to 100 billion tons. The Arctic seabed also contains immense resources of natural gas, some say.
Explorations that have taken place in the Arctic over the past 15 years were made possible only because of the receding icecap and have indicated substantial structures, particularly natural gas fields. And now as the polar icecaps melts, the Arctic region is gradually becoming more accessible and some believe the Northwest Passage could eventually open up to year-round shipping by 2050.
At the heart of the international dispute over territorial rights is the Lomonosov Ridge. This huge undersea feature stretches 1,800km from the tip of Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island, under the North Pole, to the coast of Siberia. The Russian mission to Arctic was part of the push by Moscow to find evidence for its claim that the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked by a single continental shelf, thus making the polar region a geological extension of Russia. The United Nations had rejected the Russian claim to this effect in 2002, citing lack of proof, but Moscow is expected to make its case again in 2009. The scientific and legal question is whether Lomonosov can be regarded as a natural extension of the continental shelf of Russia, Canada, Norway or the Danish territory of Greenland.
Denmark and Canada also argue that the Lomonosov Ridge is connected to their territories. Norway is also conducting a survey to strengthen its case. All five Arctic nations are now competing to secure subsurface rights to the seabed.
Under international law, each of five Arctic countries controls an economic zone within 200 miles of its continental shelf. But the limits of that shelf are in dispute and thus the battle for energy rights and ownership escalates.
Reaction to the Russian adventure was hostile. Canada expressed dismay. “This isn’t the 15th century,” Peter MacKay, the Canadian Foreign Minister, said. “You can’t go around the world and just plant flags and say, ‘We’re claiming this territory’.” The Russian flag planting in the seabed was thus to be followed by a host of similar adventures.
A week after Russia laid claim to the North Pole intensifying the global scramble for the region’s vast oil and gas reserves, Stephen Harper, the Canadian Prime Minister, announced opening a new army training center for cold-weather fighting at Resolute Bay, and a deep-water port at Nanisivik, on the northern tip of Baffin Island. Canada also announced beefing up its military presence in the far North, with 900 Rangers.
Already last month, Harper had announced plans to build six to eight ice-breaking patrol ships at a cost of $7.1bn. Canada currently has one large icebreaker and five light-to-medium icebreakers, “too few for the size of our Arctic,” argues Robert Huebert, an Arctic geopolitical expert at Calgary University.
The US has three aging icebreakers, while Russia has just started building a new fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers.
In the meantime, a US Coast Guard icebreaker is also headed to the Arctic to map the sea floor off Alaska. Russia has made no official comment on the trip, but Russian media have been suggesting it to be a response to the Russian move.
Officially the purpose of the US mission is to determine the extent of the continental shelf north of Alaska. “In that area the country would have rights over the resources of the sea floor and subsurface that would include drilling for oil and gas,” the head of the US mission was reported as saying.
The Norwegians are already conducting survey, though rather quietly, to strengthen their case.
And in the meantime, Danish scientists are also headed to the Arctic on a month-long mission seeking evidence that the 1,240-mile underwater Lomonosov Ridge is attached to Greenland, making it geological extension of Denmark’s territory and hence staking its claim to the potentially vast oil and other resources of the North Pole region. The scramble is on!
Already back, in 1984, Denmark caused a stir by raising a flag on Hans Island, one of the islands south of the North Pole, buried a bottle of brandy at the base of the flagpole and left a note saying “Welcome to the Danish island”. Two years ago, the dispute erupted again when Canada’s defense minister set foot on the island while troops hoisted the Maple Leaf flag. Denmark then sent a letter of protest to Ottawa, while the Canadians and Danes took out competing Google ads, each proclaiming sovereignty over the rock.
Many in this energy rich region often say that energy riches have proven to be more of a curse rather than blessings for them.
Are we going to see the same in Arctic too, with disastrous environmental implications for the entire globe? Who knows, only time could tell!
