... all while counterbalancing the aspirations of the United States and NATO.
Western journalists regularly accuse Russia of militarizing the Arctic. In reality, Russia’s only real military presence here is in Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. These ports are Russia’s only access point to the world’s ocean. Strategically, there are no other viable options. Developing the Arctic economically through new shipping routes or oil and gas projects is made all the more difficult by the harsh climate, the poor existing infrastructure and the Arctic’s vast expanses. Today, there is no success story that Russia might use as a template to follow. Time and money are the only answers to ...
... building regional economic ties and creating an integrated transport/logistic infrastructure. This becomes difficult to implement under the restrictions consciously imposed by the US and the EU, which do not serve national interests and development goals of Arctic states. Nevertheless, the development of Arctic oil and gas resources was and remains to be one of strategic priorities of the Russian Federation. The difficulties arising in the implementation of this task make for searching comprehensive solutions, which sometimes go beyond narrow areas of activity. Thus, the conditions appear ...
Policy brief #8/2016
The decline in global oil prices that began in the summer of 2014 carries with it a number of risks in assembling a whole range of major oil and gas projects, including shale gas extraction projects, deep-water offshore projects and projects in the Arctic shelf.
In these conditions, despite the ongoing surplus of global oil production in relation to consumption, the question ... ... implementing joint projects. Transferring international tensions into the Arctic against the background of sanctions may prompt Russia to consider involving non-regional actors, primarily Asian states, in the Arctic cooperation. Under such circumstances,...
Developing Offshore Oil and Gas Resources in the Russian Arctic Shelf: Now and Tomorrow
Developing Offshore Oil and Gas Resources in the Russian Arctic Shelf: Now and Tomorrow
The Soviet Union started actively developing its Arctic shelf in the early 1980s. The most promising areas of the Arctic shelf were ...
... years until a true trend emerges. A major problem that many of these findings use historic data, which is highly innaccurate, but cannot be avoided due to the necessity to draw trends longer than a few decades.
As the above hinted in the case of Russia, there is a peculiar situation as technically the world is facing an impeding disaster, yet as the Arctic melts 22% of the worlds undiscovered gas and oil reserves can be found offshore strategically located within its reach. So, it is hard not to wonder, if for Russia it is the best thing since slice bread! Still, before Russia can uncork the champagne, there are caveats. Firstly, Russia has not yet ...
