Russia and Norway have already demonstrated the technological and economic feasibility of Arctic oil
While global warming will melt enough of the polar ice cap to make the extraction and transportation of undersea oil and gas more readily available by 2030-2040,69 the Russians and Norwegi- ans have demonstrated that drilling in the Arctic is already possi- ble. Russia, facing harsh conditions such as temperatures as low as negative fifty degrees Celsius, is preparing to drill in Arctic offshore fields in the Barents and Kara Seas.70 Meanwhile, the Norwegians have successfully inaugurated the offshore fields of the bitterly cold East Arctic.71
Ending speculation that harsh conditions and technological limitations would prevent drilling in the Arctic for many years to come, Norway’s state-owned Statoil brought offshore gas facilities online in 2007.72 After twenty-five years of “false starts, planning and con- struction,” the Snohvit73 facility is fully operational in the Barents Sea.74 Statoil expects Snohvit to yield $1.4 billion of liquefied natu- ral gas (LNG) each year for the next twenty-five years.75 Snohvit demonstrates Statoil’s success developing the “skills and technology necessary to successfully drill in the Arctic.”76