The European Union has informed Norway that it believes melting ice due to global warming changes the strategic energy balance in the Arctic so much so that conventions should be altered to shrink Norwegian claims to hydrocarbons.

“Access to the enormous new amounts of hydrocarbons in the Arctic region will change the geostrategic dynamic in the area, with possible consequences for international stability and Europe’s security,” a note from EU Foreign Policy Coordinator Xavier Solana informed the non-EU Norwegians at a European policy meet Friday.

The EU now claims areas of melted ice could change the status of the disputed Arctic Basin, and today’s economic zones could pass from national control to international stewardship, according to newspaper Aftenposten.

Russia's claims in the Arctic are completely by the book Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre

The Right the Right of the Seas Convention of 1982 and United Nations Continental Shelf Commission in New York govern access to offshore oil and gas. The current governing principles are a mix of national geology and the rights of people who live in coastal areas.

Russia’s claims to a continental shelf beyond the 200-nautical-mile zone in the Arctic are “completely by the book”, the newspaper reported Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre saying, referring to a baseline drawn up from population centres coast-to-coast.

Norway claims an exploitable continental shelf of up to 200 miles. Both countries have just sent their applications for a settlment on a disputed zone to the UN.

Meanwhile, the border between Alaska and Canada has not yet been agreed, and the Canadians face claims near Baffin Island from Denmark.

The outcome of Europe’s pressing of Norway could influence North American claims settlements, as neither Alaskans nor Canadians claim population densities in the Far North to extend their claims beyond ordinary commercial zones.

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