TROMSO, NORWAY, June 2: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boards a research ship today to tour the Arctic, where big powers are vying for vast deposits of oil, gas and minerals that are becoming available as the polar ice recedes.
The top US diplomat took the unusual step of visiting Tromso, a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle, to dramatize US interests in a once inaccessible region whose resources are up for grabs as the sea ice melts with climate change.
“From a strategic standpoint, the Arctic has an increasing geopolitical importance as countries vie to protect their rights and extend their influence,” Clinton told reporters in Oslo before making the nearly two-hour flight north to Tromso.
“We want to work with Norway and the Arctic Council to help manage these changes and to agree on what would be, in effect, the rules of the road in the Arctic, so new developments are economically sustainable and environmentally responsible,” she added.
The US Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic holds about 13 per cent of the world’s undiscovered conventional oil and 30 per cent of its undiscovered natural gas.
Beyond the energy resources, as the ice melts Arctic sea passages are opening for longer periods each year, cutting thousands of miles off trade routes between Europe and Asia.
On an eight-day trip to Scandinavia, the Caucasus and Turkey, Clinton is the latest high-profile visitors to the Arctic as it enjoys unprecedented political and economic power.
While energy development costs could be twice as high as those of conventional onshore resources, that has not stopped of the oil industry’s top players from moving in.
(agencies)
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