... mission through perilous, ice-choked seas was the first mid-winter fuel delivery to western Alaska capping a year of pioneer shipping, as oil and gas development and climate change increase traffic along northern trade routes sought by centuries of Arctic explorers. Russia has staked future growth on mining the Arctic's vast energy resources, and reviving a Soviet-era shipping route along its Siberia coast is an integral part of that plan. It could also promise economic revival for Russia's ports...

... Antarctica, came after more than two decades of drilling and was a major achievement avidly anticipated by scientists around the world. A Russian team made contact with the lake water Sunday at a depth of 3,769 meters. Valery Lukin, the head of Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, said reaching the lake was akin to the Americans winning the space race in 1969. American and British teams are drilling to reach their own subglacial Antarctic lakes, but Columbia University glaciologist Robin...

Geographic surveys conducted in 2011 in the Russian Arctic could add as much as 1.2 million square kilometers to Russia's continental shelf, according to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry. The research could "facilitate Russia's right to develop rich hydrocarbon reserves" in the...

A $4.2 billion pipeline into Norway's Arctic to bring natural gas to European markets must be funded by the private sector, and the government does not intend to take a financial role. OSLO — A $4.2 billion pipeline into Norway's Arctic to bring natural...

TNK-BP plans to spend $12 billion to develop four fields in the Arctic Yamal region as it invests in new projects to offset declines at some of its older deposits. TNK-BP plans to spend $12 billion to develop four fields in the Arctic Yamal region as it invests in new projects to offset declines...

... August 9, 2011, against BP Russian Investment, BP and board members of TNK-BP Holding. Prokhorov sought to recover 496 billion rubles ($16 billion) in lost profits to TNK-BP allegedly incurred by the company due to nonparticipation in the potential Arctic deal with Rosneft. (MT)

LUKoil expects to invest about $1.3 billion from 2012 to 2022 in its Arctic venture with Bashneft. LUKoil, which in December bought a 25 percent stake in the project to develop the Trebs and Titov oil fields in northern Russia from Bashneft, expects the deposits to produce 228 million barrels of crude over the next decade...

... in 2009. Investigators have charged a former Estonian foreign intelligence chief with hijacking a Russian freighter in 2009. The Arkhangelsk branch of the Investigative Committee on Friday accused Eerik-Niiles Kross of organizing the takeover of the Arctic Sea vessel in July 2009 after it left a Finnish port for Algeria carrying timber. Authorities say the ship was hijacked in the Baltic Sea, the Navy seized it weeks later off Cape Verde and the eight hijackers have been tried and convicted. Speculation...

... last year, while output at Australia's Lake Johnston mine may jump fivefold to 8,400 tons, Roman Panov, head of Norilsk's overseas operations, said Tuesday in a statement. The Moscow-based company, with 80 percent of its nickel production north of the Arctic Circle, is seeking to expand outside Russia as ore grades decline at its main site. Most of the metals concentrate it mines in Africa and Australia is processed at its NN Harjavalta plant in Finland. The company is preparing to start its Honeymoon...

... plans to double gas production by 2020. The producer's sales are limited to the domestic market by law, which grants state-controlled Gazprom a monopoly on exports. Novatek plans to supply liquefied natural gas to markets in Europe and Asia from an Arctic project, working through Gazprom on a commission basis. The company may reach a $100 billion value "in the near term," given its resources and production, although low domestic prices currently constrain growth, Jetway said. Russia is...

... free and get them on their way afterward," he said. The mission to Nome is the first-ever mid-winter marine delivery to western Alaska and comes as oil and gas development and climate change increase commercial traffic along trade routes in the Arctic. The Renda, owned by Vladivostok-based Rimsco, got an exemption last month from U.S. maritime law for the journey, after the city of 3,600 residents missed its final scheduled barge delivery before winter when one of the worst storms in decades...

... comments he made in July. "The economics of the project haven't been demonstrated by anyone." Gazprom and partners Total of France and Norway's Statoil delayed making the final investment decision on the technically challenging and expensive Arctic project from December until the end of March. The venture wants exemptions from extraction and export taxes, and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon in November urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to consider the proposal. Pierre Nerguararian...

Crews began transferring 4.9 million liters of fuel from a Russian fuel tanker to the iced-in western Alaska city of Nome. ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Crews began transferring 4.9 million liters of fuel from a Russian fuel tanker to the iced-in western Alaska city of Nome. The offloading began early Tuesday morning Moscow time, said Stacey Smith of Vitus Marine, the fuel supplier that arranged to have the Russian tanker Renda and its crew deliver the gasoline and diesel fuel...

... for about 13 percent of total production, came on stream. The Energy Ministry expects crude output to grow by about 1 percent against the backdrop of greenfield production ramp-ups and commissioning of Gazprom's Prirazlomnoye deposit — the first Arctic offshore field, which Russia is about to start developing. This would be slower than the 2.2 percent rise in 2010 and 1.2 percent increase in 2011. "I would expect flat production as output at new fields will offset a decline at mature deposits...

... billion from the flotation of a 25 percent stake, said sources close to the potential placement in July, while the new government plans state that a 50 percent minus one share stake could be sold. The company owns the world’s largest fleet of Arctic, Aframax and ice-class LNG tankers. Its net profit fell 11.3 percent in 2010 to $164.3 million. Russian Railways The rail monopoly is in the process of selling off various divisions to private investors while the government plans to offload a 25...

... Viktor Esin, a former chief of staff of the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces. The missile defense proposal was part of a larger report by the Euro-Atlantic Security Commission that said the United States, NATO countries and Russia should cooperate on the Arctic, energy issues and regional conflicts as well as missile defense. It was unveiled this past weekend at an annual international security conference in Germany. "Successful cooperation on ballistic missile defense would be a game-changer,"...

... problems, these developments can hardly be regarded as negative. Of course, the celebrated cases heard in the past year by Russia's Supreme Arbitration Court (SAC) cannot escape attention. The most positive event of 2011 was the SAC's ruling in the Arctic service case that a court decision that has already come into force may not be re-examined because the SAC has changed its legal position if this results in a worse situation for the taxpayer (Resolution No. 7854/10 of the Presidium of the SAC...

... Jaffe, an energy policy expert at the Baker Institute at Houston's Rice University, sees rival gas sources as a factor behind Russia's April deal with Exxon in which state-run Rosneft brought in the U.S. giant to accelerate its development of deepwater Arctic oil and gas. Other analysts say Poland and other rivals were not a factor in that deal. A Baker Institute report showed that Russia's market share of European gas fell from about a quarter to a fifth in the decade to 2010, partly due to increased...

... defensible location behind the Ural Mountains made it an ideal place to guard Vladimir Lenin's body. Today, Tyumen serves as a center of commerce and a hub for the numerous cities in the north. The Tyumen region is large, stretching from Kazakhstan to the Arctic Ocean, and includes two autonomous regions home to native peoples accustomed to the harsh climate. Within easy reach of the regional capital are Pokrovskoye, Rasputin's birthplace, and Tobolsk, a historical capital of Siberia featuring an imposing...