Thought this article would be of interest
--Kirk
> Arctic thaw could open vast oil and gas region
> 11 Nov 2004 15:00:50 GMT
> Source: Reuters
> By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
>
> REYKJAVIK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - An accelerating thaw
> of the Arctic may open vast regions for oil and gas
> exploration but that brings worries of spills in the
> fragile environment, experts said on Thursday.
>
> Scientists behind an-eight nation report saying the
> Arctic sea ice could almost vanish in summer by 2100
> because of global warming said offshore oil and gas
> operations would be easier but melting permafrost
> could destabilise installations on land.
>
> But oil companies are unconvinced.
>
> "We can't say for sure whether Arctic operations
> will become easier or more difficult," said Mark
> Akhurst, climate change manager for BP, an observer
> at a scientists' conference in Reykjavik reviewing
> the Arctic report released on Monday.
>
> "One of the big issues is ... great chunks of ice
> shifting around," he said. "If warming creates areas
> where ice is far less stable then it's much more
> difficult to engineer."
>
> Oil and gas is already produced around the Arctic
> from Alaska to Norway. Big new projects include
> Russia's Shtokman natural gas field in the Barents
> Sea, one of the world's biggest with an estimated
> 3.3 trillion cubic metres of gas.
>
> "As ice recedes, resources like oil and gas will
> generally be easier to reach," said Arne Instanes, a
> Norwegian scientist who wrote a chapter of the
> report on infrastructure in the region.
>
> Many environmentalists are opposed to exploration
> for new fossil fuels in the Arctic -- saying the
> burning of oil, gas and coal is already responsible
> for heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide that are
> warming the planet.
>
> NEW TREATY
>
> "We need a new Arctic treaty to regulate access to
> the Arctic," said Samantha Smith, head of the WWF
> global conservation group's Arctic Programme. The
> chill Alaskan environment has yet to recover from
> the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.
>
> But Akhurst said world energy demand was likely to
> double or triple by 2050, and a shift to natural gas
> from dirtier oil or coal would help curb emissions.
> But even with oil at $50 a barrel, Arctic fields
> might cost too much.
>
> The Arctic report, by 250 scientists from the United
> States, Russia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Sweden,
> Denmark and Iceland, says temperatures in the Arctic
> are rising by twice the global average and could
> rise by another 4-7 Celsius (7-13 F) by 2100.
>
> The region is warming fast partly because dark
> ground and water, once exposed, soak up more heat
> than ice and snow.
>
> A four-day conference in Iceland is reviewing all
> aspects of the report which covered the impact of
> warming on everything from polar bears to indigenous
> people.
>
> "Some estimates say 25 percent of the world's oil
> and gas reserves are in the Arctic," said Lars-Otto
> Reiersen, head of the Arctic Monitoring and
> Assessment Programme (AMAP).
>
> AMAP is heading a study, due in 2006, of how oil and
> gas may change the Arctic in the next decade. To get
> a benchmark of contaminants, it has taken samples of
> waters and sediments from places including Russia's
> Kara Sea to Newfoundland off Canada.
>
> Reiersen said that, if spilt, oil was hard to mop up
> in the Arctic. "Spilt on ice, oil will stay frozen
> and when ice melts it comes out as fresh as when it
> went in," he said. Ice released in the spring thaw
> can damage plankton, birds or seals.
>
> On land, transport is likely to become harder
> because ice roads will be thawed longer, trapping
> vehicles in mud. And buildings and oil pipelines are
> vulnerable to destabilisation. "There will also be
> problems for coastal erosion," said Instanes. Waves
> whipped up by storms are battering Arctic coasts
> that have long been protected by sheets of ice,
> meaning problems for building oil terminals or
> landfalls for pipelines.
>
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