Posted on 09/17/2008 2:08:14 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Russia triggered a fresh scramble for the oil wealth of the Arctic yesterday after President Dmitri Medvedev called on security chiefs to establish a formal border in the region.
Mr Medvedev laid claim to a vast tranche of the Arctic, telling his National Security Council that it had "strategic importance" for Russia. Estimates suggest that the polar region contains billions of tons of oil and gas reserves, which are increasingly accessible as global warming melts the ice cap.
"We must wrap up all the formalities for drawing the external border in the continental shelf. This is our direct responsibility to future generations," Mr Medvedev told the Kremlin meeting.
Nikolai Patrushev, the director of the security council, said that Russia would defend its interests in the Arctic against rival claims from the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark.
Mr Patrushev, former head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, said: "We must define the borders in the north of our country, where the Arctic lies. Our estimate is that it makes up 18 per cent of our territory. And we are saying that 20,000 kilometres of the state border runs in this region."....
Russia lodged a claim in 2001 to 1.2 million square kilometres of the Arctic ocean with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The UN asked for more scientific data and Russia is planning to submit a fresh application next year....
Mr Patrushev said that Russia was undertaking research work to bolster its claims, but added: "It is important that it be done faster and more precisely." ...
The FSB under Mr Patrushev created a special Arctic Directorate in 2004 to further Russian interests in the region. He even flew to the North Pole to plant a Russian flag on the surface.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
The Russians are starting to push their luck.
The Russian leadership has been watching to many Walter Lance cartoons. They’re beginning to act and sound like Woody Woodpecker.
Does anyone have a map of the area they want to claim?
This actually might be great news. More oil and natural gas means lower prices...and lower revenues...That also is not going to be an easy thing to extract.
Don’t Forget Alaska!!
Sarah would NOT appreciate the U.S, getting shortchanged on this?
........ ,,,,,,,,,,, not to mention that the south side of Chicago is going to lay a claim on part of the Arctic as well.......... :-) \sarc
“Last August, a Russian mini-submarine carrying politicians and scientists plunged to the depths of the Arctic and claimed to plant a Russian flag to mark Moscow’s stake in the territory.
Footage of the alleged planting was widely broadcast on Russian television – but later turned out to be images taken from the Hollywood blockbuster Titanic”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/2976009/Russia-threatens-to-seize-swathe-of-Arctic.html
Marionette Medvedev’s strings are pulled by Putin. Putin is pushing the envelope to see what he can get away with in todays Global Political climate. He wants to control the Western oil supply. We do nothing he pushes more. We push back, he will fall back until he decides which direction next, but he is determined.
Any way one looks at this situation it boils down to a serious game of chicken.
Someone should point out that the reason the polar region is now an exploration target has little to do with how much ice is or isn't there. It has a lot more to do with the fact that the price of a barrel of oil now makes such exploration financially justifiable.
President McCain should look Putin in the eye and say, shall it be peace, or war. If its war, lets get it on. If its peace, then lets get out the map and the crayons.
They will not do this when we expect them. Surprise; always first element. They will do this; when we LEAST expect it. That they have even put us on notice, is interesting. Hope McCain/Palin make their positions VERY CLEAR!
Have not heard anything yet, however.. .
Who knows; maybe while America's nose is 'knee-deep' into counting ballots. . .
May as well let the Russians claim the whole Arctic seabed. At least they’d drill there and put the oil on the world market. We’d simply annex it all to ANWAR and preserve it for future polar bears.
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