Russia hopes to negotiate Arctic continental shelf with Trump
Russia plans to have negotiations with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump regarding its application for expanding of the Arctic continental shelf, which the U.S. has not ratified earlier, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Sergei Donskoi told reporters on Jan. 21.
"What the procedure will be like - is something for future, but anyway talks are necessary," he said.
Is a war for the Arctic possible?
Russia has always minded the fact the U.S. does not agree with Russia's application for expanding borders of the Arctic continental shelf, but anyway this question is not a key question now, the minister said.
"Of course, we consider all this as a fact (the fact that the U.S. has not ratified the Russian bid), this is well-known already," the minister said. "Secondly, anyway, besides the fact that the (UN) commission is still to consider the application and confirm its reasons, further on we shall be facing talks with the countries, we are bordering - Denmark, Canada."
Russia’s claims
Russia has applied to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) on Aug. 3, 2015. Russia plans to add to the shelf the Lomonosov Ridge and other areas of the seabed. According to lowest estimates, Russia will have additionally potential hydrocarbon reserves of 5 billion tons of fuel equivalent.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) allows expanding a country’s economic zone provided that the seabed beyond its borders is a natural extension of the continental edge. By default, a state’s shelf is limited by 200 nautical miles.
North of the Arctic Circle are about 60 large hydrocarbon deposits, 43 of which are in the Russian sector. The total resources in the Russian Arctic are estimated at 106 billion tons of oil equivalent, and gas reserves are estimated at 69.5 trillion cubic meters.
Source: TASS