Using existing geological data and probability modelling, researchers from the US Geological Survey, Canada, Demark, Greenland, Norway, Russia have estimated that the region now harbours around 30 per cent of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13 per cent of its undiscovered oil, but acknowledge that these figures could change as more field research is conducted.

‘These first estimates are, in many cases, based on very scant geological information, and our understanding of Arctic resources will certainly change as more data becomes available,’ said the paper published in Science journal.

One of the last regions to be prospected for oil, the Arctic and its subterranean riches are becoming increasingly accessible as permanent sea ice recedes, leading environmentalists to express concern about the potential damage that could be wrought on the fragile ecosystem if mass-extraction projects were given a green light.

Under international law, the oil- and gas-rich Arctic region isn’t subject to one country’s ownership – instead the five surrounding nations – Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Russia and USA – share a 320-kilometre economic zone around their coasts, and Iceland, Sweden and Finland have additional claims to it. Regulated by the UN law of the sea convention, the Arctic has been the subject of several recent claims by all surrounding nations, keen to extend their control of the seabed up to 350 miles from their borders.

June 2009