Posted on 07/24/2008 3:39:49 PM PDT by kellynla
NEW YORK: The race for petroleum resources above the Arctic Circle is likely to speed up in coming years, as the polar ice cap melts and access to oil and gas reserves in many other places around the world becomes more challenging.
The lure of the Arctic as oil's next big frontier was vindicated this week as a major geological survey found the region might hold as much as a fifth of the world's yet to-be-discovered oil and natural gas reserves.
Many of these new resources, according to the survey, are to be found in Russia. If true, that would cement Russia's position as one of the world's dominant energy players, particularly for natural gas, and increase its already powerful clout over Europe's energy supplies.
As the melting polar caps open up prospects that were once considered too harsh to explore, a race has begun among countries including the United States, Russia and Canada for control of these Arctic resources. The findings by the United States Geological Survey, which constitute the largest-ever survey of petroleum resources north of the Arctic Circle, could accelerate this scramble.
Last year, a Russian submarine planted an underwater flag by the North Pole, prompting other circumpolar nations, like Canada and Denmark, to raise their own territorial claims. Canada, for example, wants other states to recognize its sovereignty over the Northwest Passage, the once-mythical route that offers the fastest sea trade link between Asia and Europe.
Oil companies have long suspected the Arctic contained substantial energy resources, and have spent billions recently to get their hands on tracts for exploration. The geological agency's survey largely confirms this interest. But it suggests that most of the yet-to-be found resources are not under the North Pole but in regions that are not subject to much territorial dispute.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
ping
The world is awash in oil.
This is simply further evidence.
“the region might hold as much as a fifth of the world’s yet to-be-discovered oil and natural gas reserves.”
One-fifth of yet-to-be-discovered? I think they’re assuming too much there. They don’t know how much yet-to-be-discovered oil and natural gas there is.
If only globull warming were true and the ice caps really were melting.
OH , PULLLEEESE!
Enough already!
That ice cap will be coming back in spades on another 4 or 5 years. These twits refuse to understand that the primary engine driving the climate is THE SUN!
And Old Sol has decreased its energy output and when the warming trend runs out lag time on our lovely planet, you can bet that ice will come back in spades, maybe too much.
They need to explore while its easier, but you know what? The ice will be back , and it will be back powerfully, and the cold will likely be more than they would ever want in exploratory terms.
Exactly right!
The Gulf of Mexico was considered played out in the mid 1990s and then new seismic technology found more reserves and just recently 15 billion barrels were found in the Gulf of Mexico. And the Gulf of Mexico is one very intensively surveyed area.
OH , PULLLEEESE!
Enough already!”
Well, these Lefties are atheists;
so they don't believe God can & will change the temps down here anytime He feels like it. LOL
Beat me by 31 seconds.
Seismic surveys on ice are difficult. The sound waves hit the ice and get all fuddled in the ice and don't return a good sound/pressure wave back from the subsurface features. But this type of seismic technology is being worked on today for the future and very near future.
I was talkin to a guy once and he said basically “Whatever they tell you, multiply it by ten!”
He was a hydraulic engineer.
For twenty five years.
At this little backwater joint called Prudhoe Bay.
The USGS originally estimated 10 Billion barrels at Prudhoe Bay
So far we have recovered 17 Billion barrels.
You don’t like Johnnie Walker?
if it’s
“undiscovered”
then how
would you quantify it?
“undiscovered”
then how
would you quantify it?”
it's a “guesstimate”
But we KNOW there is enough coal reserves alone for our energy needs for HUNDREDS OF YEARS! And that's without building one more nuclear power plant or expanding off shore and onshore drilling for oil & natural gas!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.