The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 13% of the world's undiscovered technically recoverable oil, 30% of its undiscovered technically recoverable gas, and 20% of its undiscovered technically recoverable natural gas liquids, are in the Arctic. Most of that gas is in Russia: Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal (U.S.Geological Survey data released July 23, 2008):
Here's a map showing the location of the estimated undiscovered oil; the title is a little misleading. Click on it to see a larger version. The darker the green the more oil there is. Alaska looks pretty good, and actually accounts for about a third of this undiscovered Arctic oil:
The two provinces in the central Arctic Ocean, the Eurasian Basin, with 1.3 billion barrels, and the Lomonosov-Makarov Basin, with 1.1 billion, are small parts of the picture. This suggests to me that, to the extent the "race for Arctic oil" rhetoric is about the control of the central Arctic Ocean, it may be overblown....MORE
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Where Are The Arctic's Big Oil and Gas Deposits?
From Arctic Economics: