DENMARK, which already counts Greenland and the Faroe Islands as its Arctic territories, is planning to lay claim to the North Pole, a daily reported on Tuesday, quoting a leaked foreign ministry paper.
'The country is expected to lay claim to the continental shelf in five areas around the Faroe Islands and Greenland, including the North Pole itself,' the strategy paper reads, according to the online version of the Information daily, which said it obtained a copy of the strategy document set for publication in June.
If Denmark's 'Arctic Strategy 2011-2020' is adopted, the claims would put the Scandinavian country on a collision course with Russia, the United States, Canada and Norway.
The five countries all have claims in the region, where melting polar ice and new technologies have made the 'high north' easier to access and fuelled competition for untapped oil and gas reserves.
The Arctic seabed is thought to hold about 90 billion barrels of oil and 30 per cent of the world's undiscovered gas resources, according to the US Geological Survey.
The North Pole seabed itself is however not believed to hold large reserves, but appears to hold symbolic value for the countries in the region.
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#2
Denmark just has look across the Skagerat(sp?) to see a country that is awash in oil and gas money. Where a cow gets more government subsidy that most people in the world earn in a year.
#4
You and whose army claims the North Pole, Denmark?
Besides, Canadian air charter operator Kenn Borek Air has flown DHC6 Twin Otter aircraft on skis to the Pole from Resolute for decades. They own the airstrip, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/17/2011 20:05 Comments ||
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#5
Russia-vs-Japan [you know, SSSSHHHHHH....CCCCC CHINA] in the SOUTH KURILES.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.