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Sunday 05.02.2012

International spat over the Beaufort's oil and gas?

Canada has lodged an official "note" after Alaska's oil and gas department invited petroleum companies to prepare exploration bids for an offshore section of the Beaufort that falls within a Canada-U.S. dispute zone.

The Alaskan government has announced plans to auction oil and gas exploration rights in a disputed section of the Beaufort Sea along the Yukon-Alaska border — a move that has also prompted Canada to lodge a protest with Washington, Canwest News Service reports.



Foreign Affairs officials acknowledged Nov. 24 that the diplomatic note was filed in April after Alaska issued a draft version of its Beaufort Sea petroleum plans.

The zone has been in dispute for decades, but retreating sea ice, the northward migration of fish stocks and increased feasibility of Arctic oil and gas exploration are fuelling fresh interest in the Beaufort's economic potential.

Alaska's oil and gas department has invited petroleum companies to prepare exploration bids for an offshore section of the Beaufort — designated "Tract 001" — that falls entirely within the Canada-U.S. dispute zone.

The state's Nov. 9 invitation, published in a 437-page technical report titled Beaufort Sea Areawide Oil and Gas Lease Sale, even comes with a warning about Canada's claims to area.

"The U.S. Department of State has notified the State of Alaska that the tide and submerged land within Tract 001 of the lease sale may be subject to a title dispute with the government of Canada," the document states. "Potential bidders on Tract 001 should be prepared for possible delays in determining state title to lands within this tract."

Describing the disagreement over the boundary waters as a "well-managed dispute," a federal official said petroleum exploration and other activities in the Beaufort "do not alter the rights and obligations of either country" as they work toward resolving the issue.

"Canada's sovereignty over the lands, islands and waters of the Canadian Arctic is long-standing, well established and based on historic title. Further, Canada widely co-operates with the United States in the Arctic and we maintain an excellent collaboration."