Moscow cries foul over limited access to Arctic deposits

MOSCOW, March 17, 2010 (RIA Novosti)

Restrictions on Russia's access to the development of hydrocarbon fields in the Arctic, which accounts for over 25% of global oil and gas reserves, is unacceptable, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, attempts are being made [by other nations near the Arctic] to limit Russia's access to the development and mining of Arctic deposits, which is, of course, unacceptable from a legal point of view, as well as unfair considering our country's geographical position and history," he said.

He stressed that "polar countries are taking active steps to expand their economic and even military presence in the Arctic zone."

Arctic territories have been at the center of geopolitical wrangling between the United States, Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark as rising temperatures lead to a reduction in sea ice and make hydrocarbon deposits under the Arctic Ocean increasingly accessible.

Under international law, each of the five Arctic Circle countries has a 322-kilometer (200-mile) exclusive economic zone in the Arctic Ocean.

However, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, if a country can show its continental shelf extends beyond the 200-mile limit, it can claim a right to more of the ocean floor.

Russia has undertaken two Arctic expeditions - to the Mendeleyev underwater chain in 2005 and to the Lomonosov Ridge in the summer of 2007 - to support its territorial claims in the region.

It first claimed the territory in 2001, but the United Nations demanded more conclusive evidence.

Russia has said it will invest some 1.5 billion rubles ($50 million) in defining the extent of its continental shelf in the Arctic in 2010.

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