US plans to develop Arctic natural resources

During a visit to Alaska, President Obama announced the expansion of the US Navy. The US government wants to increase the number of icebreakers as much as possible to close the gap with Russia. The United States currently has only three icebreakers, while Russia has 40 icebreakers. Eleven more Russian ships are currently in production.

“This first step is very important,” says Heather Conley, an Arctic expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, one of the most influential political think tanks in the world. Critics have previously accused Obama of being too focused on environmental issues and ignoring US economic interests. They fear that the resource-rich region could be exploited by Canada and Russia. Expanding the icebreaker fleet is "the fastest way" to increase the United States' presence in the Arctic. And this is just the beginning. The US is also going to invest in the construction of deep-water ports and the expansion of satellite communications in the region.

Due to its large oil and gas fields, the region is of strategic importance for the Arctic countries. Scientific research proves that about 13 percent of the world's undiscovered oil reserves and about 30 percent of the undiscovered natural gas reserves dormant in the Arctic region are concentrated here. There are also large deposits of minerals, including rare earth metals, iron ore and nickel. The number of Arctic countries includes the USA, Canada, Russia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland and Sweden.

The discovery of oil reserves in the Arctic has been gaining momentum in recent months. The US government recently gave permission to drill in the Arctic to oil group Royal Dutch Shell. Despite massive environmental protests, Shell Oil is exploring reserves on the West Coast of Alaska. Russia has already begun exploiting oil reserves in the Arctic. Thus, the Russian oil company Rosneft, together with the Norwegian oil producer Statoil Group, are moving north of the Arctic Circle in the Barents Sea. In addition, Russia already has a missile defense system deployed in the Arctic, which worries the United States.