Norway sets limits on Arctic seabed claim

OSLO

To the north, the shelf ends in deep water 550 kilometres from the pole that is claimed by both Russia and Denmark.

“Norway is the first polar nation to complete this work,” Stoere told a news conference of talks with a UN commission that is trying to set limits to continental shelves of coastal states as part of revisions to the UN Law of the Sea.

Agreement on shelf limits gives states the right to exploit resources on and beneath the seabed, such as oil and gas or the genes of marine organisms, officials said.

A U.S. official report last year said the Arctic contains enough oil and gas to meet current world demand for three years, or 90 billion barrels. And global warming may make the region more accessible.

Reuters