The North Pole currently lies beyond the limits of any country's territory, and it is part of the "common heritage of mankind" that is supervised by a United Nations commission. That's been the case since 1994, when the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea was entered into force. Notably, the U.S. has not yet acquiesced to that agreement, although 154 countries and the European Community have signed and ratified the treaty. The five countries with polar territories-Russia, the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Norway-have solid claims to the 200-mile economic zones extending from their coasts. Where the issue gets mushy concerns the push of these claims onto continental shelves. According to the U.N. convention, a country can widen its reach by showing that Arctic underwater ridges are part of its continental shelf, and therefore fall under its national jurisdiction. Russian scientists recently returned from a research expedition with the news that the underwater Lomonosov Ridge links their country's Siberian shelf directly to the North Pole. That's the rationale behind the controversial flag planting at the pole by Russian submarines in early August. Russia's new claim would add 1.2 million square kilometers to its jurisdiction. For more on this, see the September issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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