The Arctic: Oil’s last frontier

Twenty five percent of the world’s untapped reserves could lie near the North Pole, but politics could prove harder to crack than the ice.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Nothing says hot like an Arctic bidding war.

Last spring Canada Southern Petroleum, a company with significant reserves inside the Arctic Circle, received a takeover offer of $7.50 per share, nearly a 60 percent premium on its then stock price. By the time the company was sold four months later to another Canadian firm, it went for $13.10 a share.

While some of that excitement may have centered around the company’s proximity to Canada’s tar sands project in Alberta, it was also cashing in on its position in one of the last places on earth thought to hold significant amounts of untapped oil and gas.

While there is drilling in the Arctic on or close to shore, the sea under the polar cap is unlikely to remain largely untapped for long – governments and corporations are racing to carve up the Arctic oil pie.

CNN/Money