Does the Current Legal Regime Governing the Arctic Provide an Adequate Basis for Investment by Oil and Gas Companies or an Appropriate Framework for Oil and Gas Exploration in This Sensitive Region?
Article from: OGEL 1 (2011), in Polar Energy Law (Arctic, Antarctic)
Introduction
Winner of the Steve Weston Prize for 2009 - The Arctic region is a sea of promise for its surrounding nations and the energy industry at large. According to the latest estimates, the northern polar seas may harbour approximately 30 per cent of the world's undiscovered gas and 13 per cent of the world's undiscovered oil. These untapped riches will become increasingly accessible as technology advances and the ice caps retrench, pushing Russia, Norway, Canada, Denmark, USA and Iceland (the “Arctic Nations”) into a race for the arctic seabed. Jurisdictional conflicts over the ...