Arctic Holds 3 Years of Oil

Mapping the continental shelf integral to oil and gas rights

(NEWSER) - A Coast Guard cutter will this week begin mapping Alaska’s continental shelf, Reuters reports, in a first step toward mining data that could be used to establish rights to oil exploration in the Arctic. Melting ice caps, which one scientist calls "bad for the Arctic, but very very good for mapping," are believed to hold the next big energy bonanza. More»

Report's recommendations cut on US, Swedish objections

(NEWSER) - A top researcher for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was poised this week to deliver a stern warning against the oil drilling operations sweeping the Arctic—until politicians pulled the teeth from his report, Der Spiegel reports. The report needed approval from the Arctic council that commissioned it—but the US and Sweden insisted on watering down the document. More»

No exploratory drilling until at least 2011

(NEWSER) - Shell is going to have to wait, baby, wait to get its hands on new sources of Arctic oil. The Obama administration plans to suspend exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean until 2011 at the earliest because of the problems exposed by the Gulf oil spill, a source tells AP . Shell had been due to start drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas this summer. More»

(NEWSER) - Canada and the US are letting their Arctic rivalry thaw long enough to launch an exploration mission, the Globe & Mail reports. A pair of icebreakers—one from each country—will set off next week into uncharted waters, working in tandem to clear a path and map North America's continental shelf. The research is likely to lay a foundation for future claims to the Arctic's riches. More»

Outgoing policymakers expect surge in region's military, commercial activity

(NEWSER) - With the Arctic getting warmer, the Bush administration predicts a multinational grab at resources there. To that end, it released a 10-page directive describing challenges the US faces and calling for an Arctic policy that underlines US concerns, the Washington Post reports. “The United States has broad and fundamental national security interests in the Arctic region,” the document says. More»