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Arctic Oil Still Seen Decades Away as Producers Balk at Costs

Lundin Petroleum AB (LUPE) , the Swedish explorer focused on Norway , said there won’t be any oil production in the ice-filled waters of the Arctic for at least 15 years because of technical and logistical challenges. “I don’t think we’ll see any oil production in the Arctic any time soon — probably not this decade and not the next,” Chairman Ian Lundin said in a Feb. 20 interview in Stockholm. “The commercial challenges are too big.” The Arctic holds 30 percent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas reserves and 13 percent of its undiscovered oil, according to U.S. Geological Survey estimates. Still, exploration of the Arctic ocean floor, where 84 percent of these resources are thought to be trapped, has suffered setbacks in recent years. Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDSA) , Europe ’s biggest oil company, in January again halted drilling plans off Alaska after a court ruled […]

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Putin orders Russian military to boost Arctic presence

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his military leadership they should build up their forces in the Arctic as a priority. Commending the recent restoration of an airfield in the region, he said Russia needed to use every means to protect its national interests in the region. He was speaking after Canada announced plans to claim the continental shelf under the North Pole. Russia and Denmark also lay claim to parts of the resource-rich shelf. Mr Putin has spoken about the need to increase Russia’s military capacity in the Arctic before but this was one of his most […]

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Canada files to define outer limits of expanded Atlantic continental shelf; preliminary filing on Arctic, targeting North Pole

Canada files to define outer limits of expanded Atlantic continental shelf; preliminary filing on Arctic, targeting North Pole Canada Overview of the outer limits of the expanded Canadian continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean. Click to enlarge. On 6 December, Canada filed a submission to define the outer limits of its expanded continental shelf area in the Atlantic Ocean with the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf . At the same time, Canada also filed preliminary information concerning the expanded outer limits of its continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean, which could include the North Pole. In a news conference on the submission, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said that Canada will indeed […]

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US Eyes Increase In Arctic Operations

The U.S. military is looking for ways to expand operations in the vast waters of the Arctic as melting ice caps open sea lanes and other nations such as Russia compete for the lucrative oil and gas deposits. But the effort will take money and resources to fill the broad gaps in satellite and communications coverage, add deep-water ports and buy more ships that can withstand the frigid waters or break through the ice. There are no cost or budget estimates yet. But by the end of this year, the Navy will complete plans that lay out what the U.S. needs to do to increase communications, harden ships and negotiate international agreements so that nations will be able to track traffic in the Arctic and conduct search-and-rescue missions when needed. En route to a security conference here […]

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Shell moves to resume Arctic drilling

Arctic Shell Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday filed a formal exploration plan for the Arctic waters north of Alaska, marking an important step forward for its ambition to drill next summer what will be the world’s most closely watched oil well. The plan for multiple wells in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska was delivered to US federal regulators in Anchorage. Shell needs the interior department to approve the programme, a revision of its previous plan, to be able to drill when the ice clears next summer, which is expected to be in mid-July. In a statement, the company said it wanted to keep its “2014 exploration options viable”, and it would “only proceed if the programme meets the conditions necessary to proceed safely and responsibly”. Shell will be targeting the Burger prospect, seen as the most promising potential oilfield in an area in which the […]

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Russia to Transfer Detained Greenpeace Activists

MOSCOW — Russia, unexpectedly and without explanation, is preparing to transfer 30 crew members of a Greenpeace International ship from a detention center in the far northern city of Murmansk to a jail in St. Petersburg, the organization said Friday night. The reason for transferring the detainees, who have been held since their ship was seized on Sept. 19 after an open seas protest against oil drilling in the Arctic, was not immediately clear, and a spokesman for Russia’s prison system declined to comment. In a statement , Greenpeace said it also did not know the reason for the transfers, which were expected to begin soon. The move came after the authorities in Murmansk completed charging the 30 people who were aboard the ship, the Arctic Sunrise, with hooliganism, a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison. Greenpeace noted earlier on Friday that, technically, all remain charged […]

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