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Page added on May 15, 2013
Oil Production in the Polar Regions
Today, the Arctic Council’s eight foreign ministers from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Canada and the USA meet in Sweden to discuss, among other things, oil production in the Arctic. They will attempt to agree on a binding joint treaty regarding what preparations will exist in case of an oil spill/accident. The amount of oil that is accessible for production is limited and large fields are required for such production to be profitable. The thing that distinguishes the polar region from e.g. the area between the UK and Norway is that the oil-bearing sedimentary layers are much older and have been subjected to more extreme conditions than those under the North Sea. This means that the likelihood of finding oil is less. So far it is mainly in Alaska that they have been able to extract oil but the reserves there have begun to run out. Some years ago the US Geological Survey, USGS, released a map of the possible oil-bearing areas in the north polar region. One of us,Colin Campbell, has experience of drilling for oil in the Barents Sea, and I have made a new estimate of the probable ultimate potential for oil production in the polar region. Considering that we use 31 billion barrels of oil annually this area can at maximum possibly supply 0.85 billion barrels (see figure), less than 3% of the global consumption. Finally, we would like to state that we support the indigenous peoples who say that that there should be no drilling for oil in the Arctic.
6 Comments on "Oil Production in the Polar Regions"
Plantagenet on Wed, 15th May 2013 5:47 pm
The reserves in Alaska have not “begun to run out”. There are numerous areas in Alaska’s Arctic, both onshore and offshore, that are highly prospective for oil but have not yet been drilled.
Beery on Wed, 15th May 2013 5:57 pm
Yeah, right Planty. That downward slope that has done nothing but go down for 25 years is just a temporary setback. Alaska is about to become the new Saudi Arabia.
Ed on Wed, 15th May 2013 6:23 pm
Thought the US was the new Saudi Arabia! With all these new Saudi Arabias around I’m starting to get confused.
rollin on Wed, 15th May 2013 9:56 pm
There is a lot of gas up there but oil is not that prevalent. Of the original test drills, 70 percent showed up as gas.
GregT on Thu, 16th May 2013 3:55 am
There was a point in my life, when I truly believed that we were an intelligent species.
It is becoming more apparent to me every day, that we are no more intelligent than bacteria in a petri dish.
BillT on Thu, 16th May 2013 4:03 am
GregT, you are on the right track. Humans are not intelligent. We are barely able to walk and talk and take care of bodily functions.
Of the few who are inteligent, they are either drowned out by the squealing of the rest of the herd as they devour everything in sight, or they are ignored because what they say means the feast is over and famine is ahead.