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Russia complying with law in Arctic shelf claim - Ivanov

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Russia's claims to a large swathe of the Arctic shelf are in strict compliance with international law, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Friday.
MOSCOW, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's claims to a large swathe of the Arctic shelf are in strict compliance with international law, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Friday.

Russia claims that a large part of the Arctic seabed, believed to hold vast oil and gas reserves, is the continuation of the country's continental shelf.

"We have repeatedly addressed the issue of the continental shelf's outer border, and I would like to point out that our country has always strictly complied with international law and its commitments," Ivanov told a Russian Marine Collegium meeting.

He said this is a sensitive issue for Russia, which must not only be focused on the economic aspect of developing the shelf.

Ivanov said prospecting and development of new fields on the shelf is important, but that the political aspect is "no less significant."

"Legalizing Russia's rights to the continental shelf will secure more territory to our Fatherland," he said.

He added that the development of the shelf will be a strong incentive for boosting national industry, particularly in the ship-building sector.

Last August, as part of a scientific expedition, two Russian mini-subs made a symbolic eight-hour dive beneath the North Pole to bolster the country's claim that the Arctic's Lomonosov Ridge lies in the country's economic zone. A titanium Russian flag was also planted on the seabed.

The expedition irritated a number of Western countries, particularly Canada, and Peter MacKay, the Canadian foreign minister, accused Moscow of making an unsubstantiated claim to the area.

Russia's oceanology research institute has undertaken two Arctic expeditions - to the Mendeleyev underwater chain in 2005 and to the Lomonosov ridge last summer - to back up claims to the region.

Also attending the meeting, Minister of Natural Resources Yury Trutnev said one and a half billion rubles ($64 million) is needed in the next two years to complete work to determine the borders of Russian continental shelf.

He said the funds were needed for hydrographic and seismic surveys on the shelf.

Trutnev said that in order to complete these operations, the government must adopt a program to renew Russia's application for the new borders. The program must be drafted by 2012.

Russia needs to invest 61.6 trillion rubles ($2.6 trillion) until 2050 to develop its continental shelf, the head of state-run oil company Rosneft said.

"Without taking territorial disputes into consideration, capital investment should be 61.6 trillion rubles," Sergei Bogdanchikov said at the meeting.

The development of disputed territories could require 10-12 trillion rubles.

Rosneft estimates prospective output on the continental shelf at 80-90 million tons a year. According to the estimates, the disputed territories cover 1.2 million square kilometers, compared to a total area of the continental shelf of 4.2 million square kilometers.

Bogdanchikov said the disputed territories in the Barents Sea hold 7 billion tons of oil equivalent with prospective output of 20 million tons a year. The disputed Arctic areas could yield 45-47 million tons of oil equivalent.

Russia first claimed the territory in 2001, but the UN demanded more evidence.

Under international law, the five Arctic Circle countries - the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Norway and Russia - each have a 322-kilometer (200-mile) economic zone in the Arctic Ocean.

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