Shipping routes, ice cover and year-round navigation in the Canadian Arctic

Abstract

Past forecasts by geologists of potentially large oil and natural gas reserves in the North American Arctic (eg, Prudhoe Bay, the Mackenzie delta, and the Canadian Arctic islands) are coming closer to reality. Results from Canmar (Canadian Marine Drilling Ltd of Calgary) drill ships working in the southern Beaufort Sea continue to support the prediction of considerable hydrocarbon deposits in this area. The most significant discovery, gas amounting to 0.48–0.50 trillion m3 [17–18 trillion ft3] was made by Panarctic Oils Limited in the Canadian High Arctic, in particular the Drake field off Melville Island and the surrounding region (Star Phoenix, 1980a). Panarctic Oils is a government-industry consortium; Petro-Canada owns 45 per cent of the shares and provides the bulk of the exploration budget.