Battle for Arctic oil and sea lanes looms

The battle to conquer the last great virgin territory on the planet and its inevitable march across the ice, is already beginning to shape the borders of the Arctic Circle.

A team of scientists from the University of Durham yesterday published a map which details a possible division of the great mass of ice.

The United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia will compete for their share of the oil and mineral rich North Pole.

The map shows the British territorial disputes facing the United States, Russia, Canada, Denmark and Norway for control of the frozen waters of the North Pole region.

Above all these countries want to become owners of trade routes and the huge oil and gas reserves that are hiding under the Arctic.

Martin Pratt of the International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU) has used an advanced computer system that takes into account all known factors of the dispute and its geographical analysis, to mark areas of conflict between the five countries regarding areas which they claim to own.

It was the United Nations which marked the rules of the game in 1982.

The Law of the Sea established then that countries have economic rights over 200 nautical miles from its shores, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

However, the same rule set a deadline, starting in 2009, under which they may request an extension.

If a country demonstrates that its continental shelf, seabed annex to the mainland, surpasses the limit of 200 miles, then the territory may be extended beyond that distance.

The extreme circumstances and the enormous cost of studies needed to prove their rights have not slowed the powers concerned.

All countries have embarked on complex investigations to claim an extension of its sovereignty.

Tension over control of the Arctic reached a peak in August last year, when Russia planted its flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole.

It is estimated that a quarter of known reserves of oil and natural gas in the world are hidden in this region.

The geological assessment that the United States introduced last July figures that 90,000 million barrels per day that could be drawn from the region.

The conquest of the sea routes is the second major objective of the Arctic struggle.

Global warming is accelerating ice melting dramatically, allowing new commercial channels.

2007 saw the opening of the Northwest Passage, which cuts 4000kms off the route between Tokyo and New York.

Control of the route has been claimed by Canada since 1973, they argue that it passes over its continental shelf.