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Arctic Yearbook 2014
Figure 1: WWF map of oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Red dots: Production of oil and gas. Black dots: Oil drilling
for exploration. Yellow dots: Oil blocks with licences. Dark blue area: Permanently ice in summertime. Light blue:
Ice-front maximum in wither time. Source: WWF ArkGIS.
The Norwegian state owns and governs the search for new petroleum on the continental shelf as
far as 200 km off the coastline. The sea areas in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the
Barents Sea, are seven times larger than the onshore area of Norway (2 140 000 km2 of sea areas)
(Figure 2).
According to international figures, 25% of the world’s undiscovered petroleum resources are
located in the Arctic Ocean (Walsh, 2012). The Barents Sea is a part of the Arctic Ocean with a
sea area of 1 300 000 km2 and is the most promising area for exploration by the international oil
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