"We have to prepare for the world coming to the Arctic," Coast Guard Adm. Gene Brooks said last week. Brooks is referring to the rapidly melting ice in the northern most portion of our planet. Whether you sympathize with Al Gore or not, there’s about half as much polar sea ice up there today than there was in the 1960s.
“At issue,” explains Chris Mayer, “are the increasingly ice-free shipping lanes that can cut shipping times by a third or more. And the oil and gas that lie in the seabed and in the shallow waters off tiny islands. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that one quarter of undiscovered oil and gas lies in the Arctic. Suddenly, the murky borders and clouded claims long left unresolved and neglected have become important.
“A future battleground? Could be. Russians are conducting naval exercises in the Arctic. Canada sent soldiers north in the spring. More likely, at least in the short term, we’ll see a lot of novel legal arguments and history aired out in trying to establish rightful claims. The shipping lanes are a big deal, not only because they shave off a lot of time compared with existing routes, but also because the existing shipping lanes are about tapped out. There are a handful of energy chokepoints that handle nearly all of the world’s oil shipments. The fate of these chokepoints, and the consequences of failure at any point, could have huge impacts on the oil markets.”
“At issue,” explains Chris Mayer, “are the increasingly ice-free shipping lanes that can cut shipping times by a third or more. And the oil and gas that lie in the seabed and in the shallow waters off tiny islands. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that one quarter of undiscovered oil and gas lies in the Arctic. Suddenly, the murky borders and clouded claims long left unresolved and neglected have become important.
“A future battleground? Could be. Russians are conducting naval exercises in the Arctic. Canada sent soldiers north in the spring. More likely, at least in the short term, we’ll see a lot of novel legal arguments and history aired out in trying to establish rightful claims. The shipping lanes are a big deal, not only because they shave off a lot of time compared with existing routes, but also because the existing shipping lanes are about tapped out. There are a handful of energy chokepoints that handle nearly all of the world’s oil shipments. The fate of these chokepoints, and the consequences of failure at any point, could have huge impacts on the oil markets.”
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