Who Owns the Arctic?

Norway hails Barents treaty OK by Russian Duma

Walter Gibbs, Reuters, March 26, 2011

OSLO - Norway welcomed a Russian State Duma vote ratifying a treaty to divide the Barents Sea into clear Norwegian and Russian zones, bringing Norway closer to a new oil and gas drive in the Arctic.

Canada, take note: Here’s how to resolve maritime disputes

Sergei Lavrov and Jonas Gahr Støre, Globe and Mail, September 21, 2010

It is often said there are few truly untamed places left on Earth, but the windswept horizons of the Arctic surely qualify. Some political analysts maintain that the geopolitical landscape is equally harsh – a lawless region poised for conflict due to an accelerating “race for the North Pole.”

We disagree. Instead, we firmly believe that the Arctic can be used to demonstrate just how much peace and collective interests can be served through the implementation of the international rule of law. Moreover, we believe that the challenges in the Arctic should inspire momentum in international relations, based on co-operation rather than rivalry and confrontation, and we believe that important steps have already been taken toward this goal.

Ottawa holds talks with Russia as Norway signs accord

Olivia Ward, Toronto Star, September 17, 2010

Frosty diplomatic relations were thawing like Arctic ice as Norway reached a landmark deal with Russia this week over a 40-year-old Barents Sea boundary dispute, and Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon held cordial meetings Thursday with Russian officials in Moscow.

Russia-Norway pact on Arctic zone puts pressure on Ottawa

As other countries sew up deals, Canada is seen as a laggard in jockeying for northern riches

Paul Koring, Globe and Mail, September 16, 2010

The race to carve up the Arctic’s increasingly exposed riches got hotter as Norway and Russia divvied up an oil-rich zone off their northern coasts, leaving Canada as the only country with a share of both the remaining unresolved boundary disputes.

The Investigator belongs in Ottawa

The newly discovered Arctic exploration vessel is an important part of this nation's history -- it should be displayed in the capital

Michael Byers, Ottawa Citizen, July 30,2010

Museums in Oslo and Vancouver house two of the three ships that were central to the history of Canada's Northwest Passage. With this week's discovery of the HMS Investigator, almost perfectly preserved in the cold waters of Mercy Bay, Northwest Territories, Ottawa should soon become the home of the third.

It’s time to resolve our Arctic differences: If Norway and Russia can reach a deal, there's no reason Canada can't settle its lingering territorial disputes

Michael Byers, Globe and Mail, April 30, 2010

Defence Minister Peter MacKay has just returned from Nunavut, where he celebrated Canada’s ability to send soldiers on snowmobiles across the Arctic sea ice.

On the other side of the Arctic Ocean, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store was up to more serious business: signing a treaty with Russia that settles the Arctic’s most significant boundary dispute.

Oslo sets limit on Arctic seabed, short of North Pole

Alister Doyle, April 15, 2009

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway became on Wednesday the first Arctic state to agree limits to its northern seabed, stopping short of the North Pole in a regional territorial scramble driven partly by hopes of finding oil and gas.

Norway's newly defined continental shelf covers 235,000 sq kms (90,740 sq miles), or three-quarters the size of mainland Norway, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said.

To the north, the shelf ends in deep water 550 kms (341.8 miles) from the Pole that is claimed by both Russia and Denmark.

Russia and NATO look to Arctic co-operation

Gerrard Cowan, Jane's Defence Weekly, April 3, 2009

Russia's plan to create an Arctic Group of Forces is not a step towards military conflict in the High North and could actually help foster increased co-operation in the region, Norwegian State Secretary for Defence Espen Barth Eide has told Jane's .

The plan to create the force was announced on 27 March. It would be readily deployable across the vast region and maintain interoperability with the general Russian armed forces, border guard and coast guard. Special ammunition, weaponry and transport would be designed for the 'freezing temperature' task force.

Moscow has insisted that it has no intention of militarising the Arctic, saying its goal is to make the area "a zone of peace and co-operation". This view was endorsed by Barth Eide, who said Norway was "not concerned". He pointed to the increasing military investment of other Arctic countries, including Norway, and said this was "logical", given the potential for oil and gas reserves and dramatically shortened transport routes.

"I don't think an increased military presence needs to increase tensions if the interested parties are informed. Indeed, it can have the opposite effect," he said. "During the Cold War, for example, good intelligence was important to promote peace, as it could tell you what another country was not doing as well as what it was doing."

For the original text, see: http://www.janes.com/news/defence/jdw/jdw090403_1_n.shtml

Norwegian-Russian swap deal in the Barents Sea?

BarentsObserver.com , September 25, 2008

A Norwegian researcher believes that Norway and Russia are about to make an agreement on border disputes in the Arctic, which have lasted for more than 30 year old .

- Russia will agree upon Norwegian jurisdiction in the Svalbard fish protection area, if Norway accepts to divide the disputed area in the Barents Sea further to the west, says High North expert Willy Østreng says to Norwegian Newspaper FiskeribladetFiskaren.

In Østereng's opinion there are several recent indications that the jurisdiction of Svalbard is seen in relations to the border discussions in the disputed area of the Barents Sea. One of the indications is that Russian authorities have not protested on the two recent arrests of Russian vessels in the protection zone around Svalbard. Earlier, Russians authorities responded quickly and hard to such arrest.

The disputed area of the Barents Sea is 176 000 square kilometres. Russian and Norwegian authorities have come to an agreement of how to divide 80 percent of the area. It is the last 20 percent, in which the promising Fedinski-structure is found, which have led to the dispute. Russian seismic surveys in the 80ties showed that this structure probably hides large reserves of petroleum.

Østereng believes that an exchange deal between Norway and Russia in the Arctic is about to be agreed upon. If Norwegian claims in the Svalbard zone is accepted, Russian claims in the disputed zone will be accepted.

Norway and Iceland sign border treaty

BarentsObserver.com , November 5, 2008

This week Norway and Iceland signed a treaty which outlines the framework of oil and gas exploration on the continental shelf between Jan Mayen and Iceland.

Norwegian minister of Foreign Affaires, Jonas Gahr Støre, says to Fiskeribladet Fiskaren that Norway has worked closely with Iceland in finding oil and gas resources on the continental shelf. The treaty signed this week outlines an agreement in the border areas between Iceland and the Norwegian iceland of Jan Mayen.

Iceland is planning to open areas in the north-eastern part of its continental shelf called the "Northern Dreki Area", for oil and gas exploration.

– The treaty gives us predictability and a good framework for both government officials and commercial companies exploring the area, says Støre.

A treaty from 1981 gives Norway the right to a 25 percent participation in a limited part of Iceland's continental shelf. The new treaty clarifies better the terms in the 1981 agreement.

The new treaty is signed only three days after the Norwegian Bank gave the Icelandic Government a loan of approximately 1 million EUR. The loan is a part of Norway’s support to Iceland in their struggle to turn around the financial crisis the country are going trough.