The Cold War was the tense relationship between the United States (and its allies), and the Soviet Union (the USSR and its allies) between the end of the World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union. Soldiers of the Soviet Union and the United States did not battle directly during the Cold War. But the two superpowers continually antagonized each other through political maneuvering, military coalitions, arms buildups, economic aid, and proxy wars between other nations. The post-Cold War international systems is unipolar: the United States` defense spending is close to half of global military expenditures; a blue-water navy superior to all others combined; a chance at a powerful nuclear first strike over its erstwhile foe, Russia; a defense research and development budget that is 80% of the total expenditures of its most obvious future competitor, China; and unmatched global power-projection capabilities.
-pressure cyclic steam stimulation (HPCSS). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam-assisted_gravity_drainage)
Oil and gas in the Arctic
Among the greatest uncertainties concerning future energy supply is the volume of oil and gas remaining to be found in high northern latitudes. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), there are about 30% of the world’s undiscovered gas and 13% of the world’s undiscovered oil may be found in the Arctic Circle. The recent retreat of polar ice makes petroleum exploration and development much easier.
Petroleum is highly associated with sedimentary rocks. The map provided the basis for defining assessment units (AUs), which are mappable volumes of sedimentary rocks that share similar geological properties. The Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal (CARA) defined 69 AUs, each containing more than 3 km of sedimentary strata, the probable minimum thickness necessary to bury source rocks sufficiently to generate significant oil and gas.
(https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3049/fs2008-3049.pdf)
Figure. Map showing the AUs of the CARA is colour-coded for mean estimated undiscovered gas. Only areas north of the Arctic Circle are included in the estimates. Black lines indicate AU boundaries.
Out of all 49 assessed AUs, CARA found that over 70% of the oil is concentrated in just 5 of them: Arctic Alaska, Amerasia Basin, East Greenland Rift Basins, East Barents Basins, and West Greenland-East Canada. Over 70% of the undiscovered gas is estimated to be in 3 provinces: the West Siberian Basin, the East Barents Basins and Arctic Alaska. The total mean undiscovered conventional oil and gas are estimated to be approximately 90 billion barrels of oil, 1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids.(https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3049/fs2008-3049.pdf) This amount of resources is equivalent to 403.24 billion barrels of oil and would last for at least 13 years at current assumption rate. With such high concentration, it is easy to operate the mass production of petroleum once the technology is mature.
