Ice, cold, ecological risks may hamper arctic oil rush

Sunday, September 02, 2007

From the NationalGeographic.com:

The prospect of vast oil and gas reserves beneath the Arctic Ocean has prompted countries to begin evaluating exploration options to assess what's really at stake.

By one estimate, 400 billion barrels of oil might lie beneath the Arctic seabed.

"The Arctic Commons area is many times larger than Iraq and could contain significant hydrocarbon reserves, with none of the attendant … political risks" of the Middle East, the industry group United Oil and Gas Consortium Management Corporation asserts on its Web site.

But even as observers debate about who really owns the Arctic and will have rights to the potential cornucopia, other experts are warning that dangerous ice, extreme cold, and the risk of environmental catastrophe will pose serious barriers.

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