Oil and Arctic Nations: Eight approaches to energy in the far north.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: OIL & GAS

The development of oil and gas in the Arctic has been a hot topic for some time, but the reality is that oil produced in Alaska has always primarily come from the North Slope, solidly within the Arctic Circle. However, the majority of oil and gas production in the United States is not within the Arctic, as Alaska is currently the fifth largest oil producing state, following Texas, North Dakota, New Mexico, and Colorado.

Even though the state doesn't lead US production (which is the current largest producer of oil in the world), Alaska's location is what includes the United States as one of eight countries with territory in the far north. The others are Canada, Denmark (via Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Russia. Oil and gas operations in the eight Arctic countries are incredibly varied, ranging from national policies that discourage oil and gas to country-wide efforts to ramp up production. Below are broad overviews of the eight Arctic nation's relationship with the oil industry.

Finland

Finland does not produce any oil or gas, instead importing crude oil and methane primarily from Russia--for now. According to Bank of Finland and Statistics Finland data, oil imports accounted for 22 percent and gas imports accounted for 5 percent of Finland's total energy consumption in 2019, but in late April officials announced a $924 million investment with the intended purpose of cutting petroleum ties with Russia.

Finland's Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintila explained that Finland will partner with Estonia to rent a floating LNG terminal, which he said will provide enough capacity for Finland to operate independent of Russian oil and gas.

As of early April, Finland had replaced 85 percent of its oil supply with crude from other countries and indicated it will not sign any new contracts with Russia, though some are still in place that will expire by the end of this year. According to the Finnish Energy Industry Association, Russian gas imports can be replaced by the fall of 2023.

Crude oil that is imported to Finland is refined by Neste Oyj, the country's sole oil refiner. Once imported, oil is transported by truck, train, or ship, as the country has no oil pipelines. LNG is also generally transported by truck or ship, though natural gas is generally delivered to end consumers by pipelines, the majority of which are buried underground.

Finland's cold climate, long distances between communities, and industries with high energy consumption have led to the country having one of the highest per capita energy consumption rates in the European Union.

Greenland

Greenland also does not produce any oil within its borders, though until last year it had intentions to do so. The US Geological Survey estimated in a 2007 report that there is up to 31.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent in northeast Greenland, and a more...