Petroleum exploration in the Arctic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The exploration of the Arctic for petroleum is more technically and physically challenging than for any other environment. However, with increases in technology and continuing high oil prices the region is now receiving the interest of the petroleum industry.
There are 19 geological basins making up the Arctic region. Some of these basins have experienced oil and gas exploration, most notably the Alaskan North Slope where oil was first produced in 1968 from Prudhoe Bay. However, only half the basins - such as the Beaufort Sea and the West Barents Sea - have been explored. Estimates for Arctic oil and gas reserves are 400 billion BOE, of which 233 billion have been discovered, with a further 166 billion yet to be found.[citation needed] These numbers are only for the oil thought to be in place and not the recoverable reserves. The undiscovered reserves are thought to be predominately gas-prone which makes commercialization of these reserves difficult as they are located in such remote areas.
Of the 19 basins, 10 have yet to be actively explored. A recent study carried out by Wood Mackenzie on the Arctic potential comments that the likely remaining reserves will be 75% natural gas and 25% oil. It highlights four basins that are likely to be the focus of the petroleum industry in the upcoming years: the Kronprins Christian, which is likely to have large reserves, the southwest Greenland basin, due to its proximity to markets, and the more oil-prone basins of Laptev and Baffin Bay.
[edit] Geological basins in the Arctic
- North Slope
- Beaufort Sea
- South Arctic Islands
- Franklinian Sendrup
- Baffin Bay
- Labrador Shelf
- Southwest Greenland
- North Greenland
- Kronprins Christian Basin
- West Barents Sea
- East Barents Sea
- North Kara Sea
- South Kara Sea
- Laptev Sea
- East Siberian Sea
- Hope
- North Chukchi Sea
- Pechora Sea
[edit] References
Murray, A. 2006. Arctic offers chilly welcome. E&P, December, 2006 "Arctic Video"
