Background Paper. Offshore Hydrocarbon: Current Policy Context in the Marine Arctic

Offshore hydrocarbon activity in the Arctic marine area is on the rise. There are numerous reasons for this. It is estimated that the Arctic sea bed may hold almost one-fourth of the world‘s undiscovered oil and gas deposits. Due to global warming, sea ice in the Arctic is melting rapidly and thereby the Arctic waters are increasingly open for resource exploration and exploitation. Global demand for oil and gas is also increasing despite policy efforts to switch to more climate-friendly energy sources. This demand further increases the pressures to exploit the Arctic‘s hydrocarbon deposits. Furthermore, the progress in technology, ship design, the drilling gear and logistics have made the accessibility to Arctic waters easier than before for the purpose of offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation.