FX.co ★ Russia expands on land and sea

The current year has been successful for Russia in terms of the territorial expansion. Indeed, a referendum on the status of Crimea was held March 16, 2014. As a result, residents of the peninsula unanimously voted to join the Russian Federation. Here is another bunch of good news. Russia has been augmented not only on land, but also on water. Few days ago, the UNO officials released a resolution of the assigned commission that officially recognizes Russia’s right to space of 52,000 km2 in the Sea of Okhotsk. Thus, the acknowledgement of the right to the disputed area is just a legal formality because Russia needed to formalize the international recognition. Interestingly, this particular area in the central part of the sea is prolific in oil and natural gas deposits. According to the flash estimates, the natural resources occupy 40% of the newly acquired shelf. A Russian research group carried out an exploration mission on spots Magadan-2 and Magadan-3. The results were submitted to the laboratory for a close scrutiny. However, it is obvious that the area has been keeping massive resources. For instance, the oil deposit on the Magadan shelf totals to over 3 billion barrels. In his speech, Russia’s Minister of Natural Resources Sergey Donskoy compared those 52,000 km2 to “Ali Baba’s Cave” access to which opens up enormous possibilities for the Russian economy. Apparently, the high ranking official forgot that the fabulous cave brought its owners nothing but trouble. Meanwhile, the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) is going to consider several more applications from Russia concerning the Lomonosov Ridge and the Mendeleev Plateau in the Arctic Ocean. Apart from Russia, Iceland, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Finland, and Sweden have also made their claims for spots on the shelf abundant in natural resources.