Arctic oil and gas reserves as measured by U.S. scientists
30% of the whole world to discover the gas and 13% of its oil discovery is estimated to be located north of the Arctic Circle, USA Geological Survey researchers said in a paper published today in the journal Science.
The estimate is relatively small compared to the known reserves in major oil-exporting countries, but is likely to greatly benefit Russia, which has the largest territory in the region, the researchers found. However, he said, the most probable place for oil in the Arctic is off the north coast of Alaska in the Chukchi Sea.
The study, presented by Donald Gautier and colleagues, is the first detailed geological and basa revised assessment of natural resources in that region. Most of the undiscovered oil and gas are under water on continental shelves, they found.
The estimate comes at a time when the decline of Arctic ice cap - due to global warming - is becoming more viable exploration. Have increased tensions between the nations around the Arctic Circle in how the resources will be exploited.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has supported the increase in exploration. But conservationists warn that the sink drilling pads frozen in the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea and Bristol Bay could open the door for a catastrophic oil spill in one of the most fragile environments on Earth.
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The estimate is relatively small compared to the known reserves in major oil-exporting countries, but is likely to greatly benefit Russia, which has the largest territory in the region, the researchers found. However, he said, the most probable place for oil in the Arctic is off the north coast of Alaska in the Chukchi Sea.
The study, presented by Donald Gautier and colleagues, is the first detailed geological and basa revised assessment of natural resources in that region. Most of the undiscovered oil and gas are under water on continental shelves, they found.
The estimate comes at a time when the decline of Arctic ice cap - due to global warming - is becoming more viable exploration. Have increased tensions between the nations around the Arctic Circle in how the resources will be exploited.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has supported the increase in exploration. But conservationists warn that the sink drilling pads frozen in the Beaufort and Chukchi Sea and Bristol Bay could open the door for a catastrophic oil spill in one of the most fragile environments on Earth.
[Source]
