Denmark Eyes North Pole, but How Much Oil and Gas Await?
Countries are looking at the long-term economic potential of the Arctic.
Just days before Christmas, Denmark has laid claim to an energy-rich but difficult-to-develop part of the world that's a fount of holiday lore: the North Pole.
The Arctic's fate will take years to decide, but it's attracted increasing interest. Russia plans next year to renew its claim to a huge swath of this bitterly cold area as a way to secure the rights to billions of tons of oil and natural gas.
The reason is simple: As global warming melts polar ice, new possibilities are emerging for expedited east-west shipping lanes and an energy bonanza. The Arctic holds 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its undiscovered natural gas—84 percent of which is offshore, according to a
