The largely unexplored land is thought to hold about 13 percent of the undiscovered oil on the planet. It may also hold about 1,669,000 billion cubic feet of natural gas. That is the equivalent of 30 percent of undiscovered gas reserves and as much natural gas as the total of all the reserves in Russia.

The new estimates come from a report by the U.S. Geological Survey, The Financial Times reported.

No one single entity is entitled to the reserves in the arctic, but governments in Russia, the United States, Denmark, Norway and Canada are all racing to gain control.

According to the most recent study, Russia and Alaska have made the largest discoveries.

As offshore drilling picks up, the arctic is really the last frontier in resources exploration.

Analysts continue to debate the cause behind record-high oil prices.

While the United States and other Western nations have blamed strained supplies, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has blamed speculators and a weak U.S. dollar, and others blame rapidly increasing demand from developing nations.

According to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, speculators have been ruled out as the source of increased prices.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission released an interim report that suggests there is not sufficient evidence to "support the proposition that speculative activity has systematically driven changes in oil prices."

The CFTC regulates energy trading and has been pressured in recent months to end speculation in the oil trading business in an effort to bring inflated prices back down.

The CFTC's report fingers supply and demand as the cause of rising prices. It suggests that as demand has been steadily increasing, OPEC and other producers have not kept up their supply.

Energy leaders suggest a world organization to address the crisis.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote to the Financial Times U.K. about his idea.

ElBaradei suggested that oil prices of $125 to $150 per barrel are here to stay and probably will creep even higher. As oil prices hover at more than $100, nations with poor economies are suffering power outages and rolling blackouts and cannot take part in the global economy.

While the IAEA is helping nations develop nuclear energy, ElBaradei said more needs to be done.

According to the International Energy Agency, the world's energy needs likely will increase by 50 percent before 2030, but many nations still rely almost entirely on fossil fuels.

ElBaradei notes there is a World Health Organization, global financial institutions and a global food agency, but there is no global energy agency to assess supply and demand and help share technology.

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Closing oil prices, July 24, 3 p.m., London

Brent crude oil: $124.98

West Texas Intermediate crude oil: $125.20

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(e-mail: energy@upi.com)