Chinese interest in Arctic riches heating up: Calgary political scientist

CALGARY – There’s a new global player that wants in on the vast oil and gas reserves that the Arctic region is believed to hold – China.

Rob Huebert, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, said Monday the energy-hungry Asian giant is looking for transportation and resource extraction opportunities in the North.


…Huebert told a natural gas conference that China has been doing more vigorous research on the polar regions than Canada has – a fact he calls “embarrassing.”

He also said Russia is building oil tankers that can break ice, and South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries is working on ways to use similar ships to carry liquefied natural gas.

The Canadian Press