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US Ship Joins Race for Arctic Resources

Mapping the continental shelf integral to oil and gas rights

By Clay Dillow,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 12, 2008 1:50 PM CDT
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(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.

“These are places nobody’s gone before, in essence, so this is a first step,” a State Department official said. With oil prices soaring and supplies dwindling, the Arctic is now a geopolitical play as Russia has claimed 460,000 square miles and last year defiantly planted its flag in the seabed beneath the North Pole.

In this photo released by the US Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks ice to support scientific research in the Arctic Ocean near Barrow, Alaska, Saturday, July 22, 2006.
In this photo released by the US Coast Guard, the Coast Guard Cutter Healy breaks ice to support scientific research in the Arctic Ocean near Barrow, Alaska, Saturday, July 22, 2006.   (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, Prentice Danner)
This undated photo made available by the US Coast Guard on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 shows the Coast Guard cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean near Barrow, Alaska.
This undated photo made available by the US Coast Guard on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 shows the Coast Guard cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean near Barrow, Alaska.   (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)
A titanium capsule with the Russian flag is seen seconds after it was planted by the Mir-1 mini submarine on the Arctic Ocean seabed under the North Pole during a record dive.
A titanium capsule with the Russian flag is seen seconds after it was planted by the Mir-1 mini submarine on the Arctic Ocean seabed under the North Pole during a record dive.   (AP Photo/Association of Russian Polar Explorers, file)
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Meltdown in Arctic picking up steam
Guardian (UK)

Ship of diplomacy treading carefully through the arctic
Washington Times

Decreasing ice, increasing traffic in Arctic
Anchorage Daily News

 
Arctic • Coast Guard • Arctic race • oil exploration • Arctic oil • Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf

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