Why Russia is rushing for the black gold of the Arctic
Audio 04:01
A barrel of oil (Photo illustration).
© Sumeet Mudhoo / L'Express Maurice / REUTERS
By: Dominique Baillard Follow
8 mins
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov are meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland today for the Arctic Council.
A first meeting against a background of heightened tension.
With the warming of the climate, the North Pole is increasingly sharpening the competition between the riparian countries.
For military reasons, but also economic ones.
Russia has great ambitions in this territory.
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Oil and gas revenues, intended in particular for Europe, are a valuable source of foreign currency and taxes for Russia, hydrocarbons cover a third of the state budget and represent half of the country's exports. It is thanks to hydrocarbons that the Russia of Vladimir Putin remains afloat despite Western sanctions. And it is by exploiting the deposits buried under the Arctic sea ice that the head of the Kremlin intends to maintain his rank of great power… energy. Because with the ultra-rapid warming of this region, probing the depths of the permafrost to extract gas and oil has become possible and profitable. The region could contain 16% of the world oil reserves - according to the estimates of the American geological surveys, 30% of the gas reserves.The ultra-rapid melting of the glacial crust is also opening up a new sea route. Welcome since it considerably shortens the duration and therefore the cost of transport.
Europe is already supplied with Russian liquefied natural gas from the Yamal peninsula
A region located beyond the Arctic Circle. Where the number two in Russian energy, the Novatek group, has joined forces with the French Total, as well as the Chinese “Silk Roads” fund to extract gas from frozen ground above the surface. half of the year. Current production represents 5% of the global LNG market. With the exploration project that started this winter even further north, in the Kara Sea, Moscow is seeing a lot bigger. Russia hopes to become a major player in LNG within 15 years, capable of surpassing the two current champions, Australia and Qatar, in production. The main contractor for these new projects, the Russian oil company Rosneft is in the process of selling part of its deposits located in the south of Russia to finance this megaproject at 130 billion dollars. TheState offers tax exemptions to attract Russian and foreign investors.
These projects, made possible by global warming, will also contribute to exacerbating it
This is the whole paradox of this polar adventure. At a time when the International Energy Agency calls on companies to cease exploration of hydrocarbons in order to have a chance to stop the warming, at a time when the Western majors are making the big shift towards renewable energies, the Russians are accelerating their black gold rush to the arctic. Moscow does not bother with ecological considerations and is not even afraid of running out of customers due to the massive electrification of the economy. His calculation: when competitors switch to green energies, there will still be a great need for conventional energies in the countries of Asia or Africa, which will be slower to decarbonize their economy. Enough to ensure that Russia has outlets and therefore income for the next 15 years.
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