Russia is ready to do anything for Arctic oil.
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Russian Politicians Beat Scientists to Arctic
Information agencies yesterday reported that Lomonosov Ridge in the Arctic Ocean “is not isolated from the Russian highlands.” Those are the conclusion allegedly reached by scientists studying samples collected from the seabed during the recent Arctic expedition. Kommersant has learned that the declaration of the Arctic's Russianness was premature. Deep-sea core samples are needed for that. The equipment to perform those tests does not exist in Russia and, under the UN Convention, Russia cannot receive the entire shelf, but only 10-20 percent of it.
Information appeared on national television channels citing ITAR-TASS yesterday that first results show Lomonosov Ridge to be a continuation of the mainland. Russia is trying to prove that in order to appeal to a special UN commission that can declare the underwater ridge Russian territory. The reports claimed that scientists at the All-Russia Scientific Research Institute of the Geology and Mineral Resources of the World Ocean (usually referred to in Russian as VNIIOceangeology) analyzed the materials obtained from the Arctic bottom during the recent expedition led by deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma Artur Chilingarov and established that the ridge is a “structural continuation of the Siberian continental platform and not in any way isolated from the Russian highlands.” VNIIOceangeology deputy director Viktor Poselov spoke confirming that the results of the expedition “strengthen Russia's economic and political position” and permit the country “with a high degree of likelihood to graft an area of 1.2 million sq. km. with reserves of 9-10 billion tons of raw hydrocarbons onto the continental shelf beyond the 200-mile economic zone.”
However, in a conversation with a Kommersant correspondent, Poselov said that he was “misunderstood.” The work being done by his institute has no relation to the Chilingarov expedition, he said, and declined to comment further, citing a ban placed by the press service of the Federal Subsurface Management Agency (Rosnedr), which VNIIOceangeology is subordinate to.
Rosnedr press secretary Natalia Ivanova stated that the issue of joining Lomonosov Ridge to Russia “is political.” “We are touching on big politics here and we will not comment, so as not to damage state interests,” she explained. Kommersant was able to determine that it is premature to call the Arctic Russian yet. As they explained in VNIIOceangeology, the institute really is conducting research on Lomonosov Ridge, but the scientists are far from being able to make conclusions about its structure yet. “We are not engaged in advertising here, but in science. Out last expedition was in May on the icebreaker Russia. We are studying the results from it, and not the pail full of samples Chilingarov brought back. We obtained those samples from the bottom by the dozens, and earlier,” said one researcher, who asked to remain anonymous.
Deputy director for geology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oceanology Leopold Lobkovsky told Kommersant that the Chilingarov expedition collected the samples for his institute. “The sample will be analyzed by us for the types of sediments that formed on the bottom in the last thousand years. It has nothing to do with the ownership of the ridge. On TV, they told a completely different story about the expedition. To say that our sample will give Russia the chance to graft on territory is complete nonsense,” Lobkovsky said. He said that, for that purpose, so-called seismic exploration of the ridge would be necessary, during which various sections of the seabed are “shot” with seismic guns. “It's similar to tomography or ultrasound. Data collected on a meter can establish the speed of the distribution of waves in oceanic strata and the contents of the strata can be determined by the speed,” he explained. Lobkovsky explained that data thus obtained showing that Lomonosov Ridge is continental and is made up of granite, for example, will not be proof for the UN special commission that that shelf has to be declared Russian territory. “Unlike continental ridges, oceanic ridges mainly contain basalt, and it can be confused with granite in seismic exploration. Basalt gives the same speed of wave distribution,” Lobkovsky explained. He said that, in 2001, Russia presented the UN with seismic data, but it was considered inconclusive for that reason. “If Russia presents the same seismic exploration data to the UN, it will get the same result it did in 2001,” he added.
Lobkovsky thought only the results of deep-sea core sampling would be watertight proof of the origin of Lomonosov Ridge for the UN. Russia does not have the necessary equipment for that. Japan has the $500-million ship Chikyu (Earth) that can bore 7000 m., but Russia is likely to be able to rent it. Russia, unlike Japan and the United States, does not participate in so-called international deep-sea core sampling, for which member states pay about $2 million per year.
Even if Russia is able to obtain proof acceptable to the UN, it will not receive the 1.2-million sq. km. ridge, as politicians are counting on. Under article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Russia ratified in 1997, the country can expect only 350 miles of the continental shelf from the northernmost point of dry land. That was confirmed for Kommersant by a source at VNIIOceangeology and by Lobkovsky. Considering that the Russian economic zone already extends 200 miles from the northern shores, even if the UN experts are favorably inclined, Russia will receive not all of the Arctic, but only 150 additional miles of it from its territory (about 277 km.). Canada, the U.S. and Denmark are claiming their 350-mile pieces of the Artic as well, which do not intersect with Russia's in any way. This makes the politicians' statements about a war for the Arctic heavily exaggerated.
Alexander Voronov
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 24, 2007
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