US Blocks Arctic Oil Assessment

The US has blocked the release of a landmark assessment of oil and gas activity in the Arctic as it prepares to sell of off exploration licences for the frozen Chukchi Sea off Alaska.

The area, one of the last remaining habitats of the polar bear, is being assessed by scientists in all eight Arctic nations to give an up-to-date picture of oil and gas exploration in the high north.

The assessment was also meant to give policy makers a clear set of recommendations on how to safely extract what is thought to be up to one-quarter of the world's energy reserves, writes the UK's Independent newspaper.

One of the report's lead authors, told the Independent: "They [the US] have blocked it. We have no executive summary and no plain language conclusions."

Earlier this month, the US Government announced it would auction off 30 million acres of the remote Chukchi Sea which separates Alaska from Russia on 6 February.

The sale to oil and gas companies has been rushed through before Congress can protect the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, a move which could complicate efforts to sell its habitat to oil majors, writes The Independent.

By staff writer