Reviews on Natural Resources in the Arctic: Petroleum, Gas, Gas Hydrates and Minerals

Abstract

The Arctic consists of numerous sedimentary basins containing voluminous natural resources and two of the world's major oil and gas producing areas. The western Siberia Basin in the Arctic region has the largest petroliferous province with an area of 800 x 1,200 km and produces more than 60% of total Russian oil production. The North Slope of Alaska produces about 20% of the U.S. output, i.e., 11% of the total U.S. consumption. Being small compared to those regions, the Canadian Northwest Territories and the Pechora Basin in Russia produce only fair amount of oil and natural gas. There are also many promising areas in the northern continental shelf of Russia. In addition to Russia, Svalbard and Greenland have been investigated for oil and gas. Gas hydrates are widespread in both permafrost regions and arctic continental shelf areas. The reserves of gas hydrates in the Arctic Ocean are about 20∼32% of total estimated amounts of gas hydrates in the world ocean. Mineral mining is well developed, especially in Russia. The major centers are located around the Kuznetsk Basin and Noril'sk. They are major suppliers of gold, tin, nickel, copper, platinum, cobalt, iron ore, coal as well as apatite. There are also some minings of lead-zinc in Alaska and Arctic Canada.