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Natural Resources

The Arctic contains a wealth of petroleum and mineral resources. Currently, the region produces about one tenth of the world’s oil and a quarter of its natural gas. The Russian Arctic is the source for about 80 percent of this oil and virtually all of the natural gas; Arctic Canada, Alaska, and Norway are the other leading producers. Recent appraisals suggest that a considerable fraction of the world’s undiscovered petroleum reserves lie within the Arctic.

The most developed sector of the region, the Russian Arctic also holds abundant deposits of nickel, copper, coal, gold, uranium, tungsten, and diamonds. As well, the North American Arctic contains pockets of uranium, copper, nickel, iron, natural gas, and oil. However, many known mineral reserves have not been exploited because of their inaccessibility and the steep development costs.

Related Photos

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  • A polar bear on the Franz Josef Land archipelago. Russian researchers placed a satellite collar on the bear to monitor its migration, track its daily and seasonal activity, and identify its habitat and migration routes.
    Franz Josef Land archipelago
  • A reproduction of Rockwell Kent’s 1932 painting “Early November: North Greenland” in the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Moscow.
    Rockwell Kent’s “Early November: North Greenland”
  • Members of the FSB border guard service and the Emergencies Ministry during joint rescue exercises following an airplane crash. The exercises were held under severe arctic conditions on the Franz Josef Land archipelago.
    Joint FSB border guard and Emergencies Ministry exercises
  • The ice-covered Barents Sea.
    Barents Sea
  • A herd of muskoxen search for food at the Wrangel Island Reserve, located on the Arctic tundra.
    Herd of muskoxen search for food
  • September 7, 2011. President Dmitry Medvedev, second right, his wife, Svetlana, left, and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and her husband, Prince Consort Henrik, at the Russian-Danish photo show "The Arctic" at the Moscow House of Photography.
    President Dmitry Medvedev and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark open exhibition "The Arctic" in Moscow
  • Deer sled races taking place in the village of Gyda during the Deer Breeder Day celebrations in Russia’s far north.
    Deer sled races
  • Crew of a nuclear-powered ship
    Crew of a nuclear-powered ship
  • A stuffed wolverine from the State Darwin Museum.
    Wolverine
  • On Monday, Day 10 of the Arctic expedition, Russian polar explorers started unloading their equipment and supplies on a drifting ice floe they will call home for the next year or so.
    Russian polar explorers descend on drifting ice floe
  • September 7, 2011. President Dmitry Medvedev and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark at the Russian-Danish photo show "The Arctic" at the Moscow House of Photography. Right: the Lego sculpture "Iceberg" by Russian artist Alexander Ponomaryov.
    President Dmitry Medvedev and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark open exhibition "The Arctic" in Moscow
  • Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Yury Trutnev speaks at the 2nd International Arctic Forum "The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue” in Arkhangelsk.
    The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue - 2011

Biological resources are similarly bountiful in the Far North. An estimated one-fifth of freshwater and several of the world’s largest rivers are found there. The region encompasses one of the last and most extensive, continuous wilderness areas on Earth, and it is home to hundreds of endemic species of plants and animals. Millions of migratory birds from around the globe breed and live seasonally in the Arctic and a variety of marine mammals inhabit the regional ocean waters. Fish such as salmon, cod, and pollock abound in Arctic and sub-Arctic waters, supporting valuable commercial fisheries. Some two dozen major herds of reindeer and caribou, important resources for indigenous peoples, migrate across high northern landscapes. In sum, humans gain much from the Arctic’s living resources, and the region is uniquely important to global biodiversity.

Climate change in the Far North is expected to transform the outlook on natural resources there.  As rising temperatures accelerate the melting of ice on land and at sea, the prospects for expanding transportation corridors, mineral resource development, and tourism will grow. At the same time living resources will face new pressures. Future developments could well bring considerable new wealth to Arctic state economies, but also significant consequences for northern peoples and environments.