Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Medvedev: Arctic vital to Russia

|
|
 
  
Published: Sept. 17, 2008 at 5:29 PM

MOSCOW, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Russia must secure its territory in the Arctic and improve infrastructure to allow it to exploit oil and natural gas reserves, President Dmitry Medvedev said.

Medvedev, speaking at a Russian Security Council meeting in Moscow, said that the energy resources in the Arctic are critical to the country's future, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

"According to estimates by experts, the Arctic shelf may have about one-fourth of the world's shelf hydrocarbon reserves, and the use of these reserves is a guarantee of Russia's overall energy security," Medvedev said.

Nikolai Patrushev, the council secretary, said that Russia has a valid claim to 18 percent of the Arctic shelf, Kommersant reported. The United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark, as well as Russia, now claim areas within 200 miles of their northern borders.

The government plans to draw up a plan for the Arctic by Dec. 1 and to present documentation of its claims in the Arctic to the United Nations next year, Patrushev said.

Topics: Nikolai Patrushev
Recommended Stories
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 25
Meryl Streep and Colin Firth attend the "BAFTA" ceremony in London
View Caption
fark
High school coach retires at 65 after getting arrested nude, "aroused" in car backseat with 17-year-old...
Man arrested for stealing $25k worth of Tide detergent. Witnesses say the suspect appeared quite...
News: Two cars fighting gun battle on Interstate accidentally fire into car of innocent women. Fark:...
Dads, before showing "The Smurfs" DVD from your laptop at your kid's birthday party, make sure you...
It's a Jeep thing. You wouldn't understand
Baby shower ends with three people stabbed after a drunken argument between relatives of mom-to-be...