Oil And Gas Exploration And Production In Arctic And Subarctic Onshore Regions

This publication, prepared in cooperation with the oil industry's Exploration Production Forum, sets out the oil exploration process, describes the potential environmental consequences of exploration and recommends measures for the prevention or minimization of adverse impacts. The material is based on the experience of IUCN's Environmental Assessment Service.

Study explores the range of technologies required for exploration and development of offshore energy resources and assesses associated economic factors and financial risk. It also evaluates the environmental factors related to energy activities in frontier regions and considers important government regulatory and service programs.

Global energy problems will remain a challenge in the coming decades. The impact of climate change and the melting of polar sea ice opening up access to offshore hydrocarbon resources in the Arctic Ocean, raises questions for both civil society and the scientific community over drilling opportunities in Arctic marine areas. Disparities in approach to the governance of oil and gas extraction in the Arctic arise from fundamental differences in histories, cultures, domestic constraints and substantive values and attitudes in the Arctic coastal states and sub-states. Differing political systems, legal traditions and societal beliefs with regard to energy security and economic development, environmental protection, legitimacy of decision making, and the ownership and respect of the rights of indigenous people, all affect how governance systems of oil and gas extraction are designed. Using a multidisciplinary approach and case studies from the USA, Norway, Russia, Canada, Greenland/Denmark and the EU, this book both examines the current governance of extraction and its effects and considers ways to enhance the efficiency of environmental management and public participation in this system.

Poles Apart covers a range of themes about the Artic and Antarctic, including the geography, glaciology and glacial history, ecology, living resources, governance, and history of exploration. Topics are examined separately for each pole and each theme is summarized by a rapporteur who draws out the contrast and the similarities. This unique format allows the international experts to describe what they know best while addressing the central issues of the book.