U.S. Survey Confirms Large Arctic Oil and Gas Reserves

The Arctic may hold as much as 20 percent of the world’s estimated undiscovered oil and natural gas reserves, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The study said the Arctic may contain 90 billion barrels of oil, enough to meet global demand for three years and an amount equal to 13 percent of the world’s “undiscovered technically recoverable” oil reserves. The region’s natural gas reserves are even greater, 1,670 trillion cubic feet — an estimated 30 percent of the globe’s yet-to-be discovered gas supply and an amount equal to Russia’s proven gas reserves, the largest in the world. The USGS said most of the oil and gas is found near shore and will become more accessible to drillers as Arctic sea ice continues to melt. The two Arctic areas with the greatest potential are off Alaska’s coast — where oil companies have spent $2.6 billion this year acquiring leases on government offshore tracts — and in the West Siberian and East Barents basins of Russia. The USGS report has heightened concerns among environmentalists about the resource rush now taking place in the largely pristine Arctic.