MeMyselfAndI
Sep 15th 2010, 05:13 PM
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pixies/2010/9/15/1284565923366/Jens-Stoltenberg-and-Dmit-006.jpg
Jens Stoltenberg (left) and Dmitry Medvedev in Murmansk after signing a treaty ending a border dispute over the Barents Sea. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev/EPA
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia)
Russia (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia) and Norway (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/norway) today ended a bitter 40-year dispute over their maritime borders and signed a treaty that will allow for new oil (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/oil) and gas (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gas) exploration in the Arctic (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/arctic) region.
The agreement lays to rest a long-running Soviet-era row over the Barents Sea. Both countries claimed a 175,000 sq km (67,567 sq mile) zone, about half the size of Germany, situated north of Russia's Kola Peninsula and the Norwegian coast. The treaty divides the disputed area equally between the two countries.
The dispute flared up in the 1970s and was initially about fish. But the area is now thought to be not only rich in fishing but also in oil and gas, with proven petroleum reserves on both the Russia and Norwegian sides.
Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, and Norway's prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, signed the treaty today in the Russian city of Murmansk, north of the Arctic circle and not far from the Norwegian border.
With the five Arctic powers - Russia, the US, Canada, Denmark and Norway - scrambling to file territorial claims over the Arctic, Medvedev hailed the agreement as a "constructive" model of how rival Arctic nations should settle their differences. He also warned Nato not to "exacerbate" its presence in the region.
"This is a practical illustration of the principle that all disputes in the Arctic must be tackled by the Arctic nations themselves by way of talks and on the basis of international law," a Kremlin source told the Russian news agency Interfax.
Under existing rules states have exclusive economic rights up to 200 miles from their shores. But they can claim even more if they can demonstrate that their continental shelf extends beyond this limit. In 2007 Russia planted a flag at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/aug/03/russia.oil) in support of its claim that it was entitled to a much bigger chunk of the Arctic.
The gesture triggered a series of furious counter-claims by Canada and Denmark that their territory is continuous with the Lomonosov ridge, an underwater ridge in the Arctic Ocean. The competition is driven by estimates that the Arctic could hold 13% of the world's remaining oil deposits and 30% of its gas reserves, not to mention precious metals.
Today one Arctic expert said climate change (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change) would make the extraction of oil and gas from the Arctic much easier. "In the future it will be more acceptable. It [extraction] isn't so difficult," Professor Anatoly Kolodkin, the president of the International Maritime Law Association told the Guardian.
Kolodkin denied accusations that Russia was trying to "grab" Arctic territory and said the Kremlin was a signatory to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which decides all Arctic claims. "As Mr [Vladimir] Putin emphasised we are not going to take something unilaterally. We will only act in accordance with international procedures," he said.
Two years ago Russia's security council identified the Arctic as an important "strategic resource" to be exploited – but also said its ecological system should be preserved. Putin, Russia's prime minister, is hosting an international conference on the future of the Arctic in Moscow next week.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/15/russia-norway-arctic-border-dispute
Jens Stoltenberg (left) and Dmitry Medvedev in Murmansk after signing a treaty ending a border dispute over the Barents Sea. Photograph: Mikhail Klimentyev/EPA
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia)
Russia (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia) and Norway (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/norway) today ended a bitter 40-year dispute over their maritime borders and signed a treaty that will allow for new oil (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/oil) and gas (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gas) exploration in the Arctic (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/arctic) region.
The agreement lays to rest a long-running Soviet-era row over the Barents Sea. Both countries claimed a 175,000 sq km (67,567 sq mile) zone, about half the size of Germany, situated north of Russia's Kola Peninsula and the Norwegian coast. The treaty divides the disputed area equally between the two countries.
The dispute flared up in the 1970s and was initially about fish. But the area is now thought to be not only rich in fishing but also in oil and gas, with proven petroleum reserves on both the Russia and Norwegian sides.
Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, and Norway's prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, signed the treaty today in the Russian city of Murmansk, north of the Arctic circle and not far from the Norwegian border.
With the five Arctic powers - Russia, the US, Canada, Denmark and Norway - scrambling to file territorial claims over the Arctic, Medvedev hailed the agreement as a "constructive" model of how rival Arctic nations should settle their differences. He also warned Nato not to "exacerbate" its presence in the region.
"This is a practical illustration of the principle that all disputes in the Arctic must be tackled by the Arctic nations themselves by way of talks and on the basis of international law," a Kremlin source told the Russian news agency Interfax.
Under existing rules states have exclusive economic rights up to 200 miles from their shores. But they can claim even more if they can demonstrate that their continental shelf extends beyond this limit. In 2007 Russia planted a flag at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/aug/03/russia.oil) in support of its claim that it was entitled to a much bigger chunk of the Arctic.
The gesture triggered a series of furious counter-claims by Canada and Denmark that their territory is continuous with the Lomonosov ridge, an underwater ridge in the Arctic Ocean. The competition is driven by estimates that the Arctic could hold 13% of the world's remaining oil deposits and 30% of its gas reserves, not to mention precious metals.
Today one Arctic expert said climate change (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change) would make the extraction of oil and gas from the Arctic much easier. "In the future it will be more acceptable. It [extraction] isn't so difficult," Professor Anatoly Kolodkin, the president of the International Maritime Law Association told the Guardian.
Kolodkin denied accusations that Russia was trying to "grab" Arctic territory and said the Kremlin was a signatory to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which decides all Arctic claims. "As Mr [Vladimir] Putin emphasised we are not going to take something unilaterally. We will only act in accordance with international procedures," he said.
Two years ago Russia's security council identified the Arctic as an important "strategic resource" to be exploited – but also said its ecological system should be preserved. Putin, Russia's prime minister, is hosting an international conference on the future of the Arctic in Moscow next week.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/15/russia-norway-arctic-border-dispute