1920 treaty holds key to Arctic energy riches

Interpretation of the Svalbard treaty, which gave an Arctic archipelago the size of Ireland to Norway but gave others equal access to its resources, will decide future energy and fishing rights in the lucrative north Barents Sea.

The area holds the world’s best stocks of cod, worth billions of dollars, and geologists say it could contain massive energy supplies comparable with the southern sector of the sea. The two sectors could hold a combined total of up to 6.3 billion barrels of undiscovered oil equivalent, almost as much as Azerbaijan’s total reserves.

reuters