Oil-Gas Resources and Drilling in the Arctic

Arctic Sea Ice via NASA/NOAA and NDIDC

http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2016/09/2016-ties-with-2007-for-second-lowest-arctic-sea-ice-minimum/

https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--PEakRtPE--/c_scale,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/xyasmhqdqgrzxvvqd3is.gif

Siterunner: The following links are citations for a story in development.

Strategic Demands, our associated site, is currently researching and will publishing in January "The Arctic Story."

The Northern regions, and geo-political conflict, between the US, Russia, China, and Canada, in the context of a larger 'great game' that is being waged in an increasingly ice-free North.

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https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-12-19/obama-said-to-use-1953-law-to-block-drilling-in-arctic-atlantic

Dec 19 / President Barack Obama is preparing to block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in most of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, a move that could indefinitely restrict oil production there, according to people familiar with the decision.

Trudeau Joins Obama in Freezing Arctic Offshore Oil Drilling

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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/donald-trump-russia-vladimir-putin-norway-nato-clear-policy-arctic-bases-submarines-military-a7453581.html

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/18/obama-blocks-new-oil-gas-drilling-in-arctic-ocean.html

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While some see global threat, others see business opportunity. The opening up of an Arctic w diminished ice is bringing an oil/gas rush to the North. New appt Tillerson knows and has set in motion a multi hundred billion (dollar-ruble) exploration-production venture. There will be either US-Russian cooperation, or competition in this. Obama's legacy of restrictions on drilling n the Arctic will fade fast.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/13/exxon-mobil-could-tap-huge-arctic-assets-if-us-russian-relations-thaw.html

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Arctic Sea Ice at Record Lows / December 2016

http://phys.org/news/2016-12-state-arcticlonger-seasons-thinning-sea.html

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/13122016/arctic-melting-climate-change-noaa-science

Earth Observatory

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/Report-Card

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Sea_Route (Russia)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Passage (Canada)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/17/the-north-pole-is-an-insane-36-degrees-warmer-than-normal-as-winter-descends/

http://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2016/11/04/factcheck-oil-firms-announce-going-invest-basically-no-money-tackling-climate-change/

2016

First Cruise Ship Crossing the Ice-Free Arctic Passage

- https://www.greenpolicy360.net/w/File:Crystal_Serenity_cruises_2016.png

- https://www.wired.com/2016/03/climate-change-opens-first-luxury-arctic-cruise-route/]]

- http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/15687-serenity-departs-for-northwest-passage-trip.html

- http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/crystal-serenity-cruise-ulukhaktok-1.3736984 Ulukhaktok

- http://www.ktva.com/shows/frontiers/episode-74-crystal-serenitys-historic-voyage-951/ Arrival in New York City ... September 16, 2016

- http://www.reuters.com/article/us-environment-shipping-arctic-idUSKCN12A14B

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A surge in Arctic tourism is bringing ever bigger cruise ships to the formerly isolated, ice-bound region, prompting calls for a clamp-down to prevent Titanic-style accidents and the pollution of fragile eco-systems.

Arctic nations should consider limiting the size of vessels and ban the use of heavy fuel oil in the region, industry players said, after a first luxury cruise ship sailed safely through Canada's Northwest Passage this summer.

- http://container-news.com/arctic-ocean-shipping-routes-open-months/

Shiping industry report:

Sea-ice is in a committed, long-term decline as the polar north warms.

This year looks on course to be the second lowest in the satellite record. Researchers do not see this trend being reversed anytime soon.

“If we experience a 2-degree increase in global temperatures, we will get close to an Arctic that is effectively ice-free for part of the year; that’s less than a million sq km of ice

cover,” said Reading University's Dr. Ed Hawkins.

“So, even if future emissions are consistent with the Paris agreement, it will of course mean shipping routes will be more open. Not every year, but more regularly than they are now.”

“Open water vessels won’t be hugging the Russian coast quite so much, and ice-strengthened ships will be going right over the pole,” he told BBC News.

Saving time

The incentives are clear: if vessels can transit the Arctic, they will shave many days off their journey times between the Pacific and North Atlantic ports, and save fuel.

In addition, by plotting a more central course, they can avoid the fees they would otherwise be charged for going through Siberian waters.

The team has been looking at how the opportunities might evolve in the decades ahead.

The group used five prominent climate computer models and essentially trained them to better reflect the distribution of Arctic sea-ice as seen in current observations.

They then ran those models forward through the century under different emissions scenarios, to gauge where and how frequently shipping routes would become navigable.

2015

- http://www.reuters.com/article/us-sanctions-russia-arctic-shipping-idUSKBN0KV17520150122

2014

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2013

- http://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-arctic-shipping-idUSBRE92718420130308

2012

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2011

- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jul/06/us-russia-political-tensions-arctic

- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/oct/05/melting-arctic-ice-supertankers

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