British researchers map Arctic claims

Just a few weeks after geologists released the first comprehensive assessment of the oil and gas resources in the Arctic, a team of British researchers has unveiled the first map of actual and potential land claims in the northern polar region.

Created at Durham University, the map shows the agreed-upon boundaries in the area north of the Arctic Circle, as well as those lands and waters where one of the six Arctic nations have or could someday lay claims based on existing laws and treaties.

“The map is the most precise depiction yet of the limits and the future dividing lines that could be drawn across the Arctic region,” Martin Pratt, director of research at the University’s International Boundaries Research Unit, said in a prepared statement.

Although the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, Denmark and Iceland all have boundaries stretching into the Arctic, those six countries have in the past disputed the ownership of certain lands and waters in the region.

The prospect of significant resource potential in the Arctic has threatened to inflame those disputes. The issue gained traction last year after Russia planted its flag on the seabed near the North Pole, claiming a large chunk of the region.

The area north of the Arctic Circle could contain 90 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, according to a preliminary evaluation of the region released by the U.S. Geological Survey in late July.

Overlaying that assessment onto the new Arctic jurisdiction map, though, shows many of the most prospective areas for oil and gas development in the region to sit on lands and water with the fewest territorial and boundary disputes.

To learn more, visit www.dur.ac.uk/ibru/resources/arctic/.

—Eric Lidji