Russia's interest in Antarctic oil exposed after Ukrainian scientist's arrest

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Mining in Antarctica and its surrounding waters is banned under an international treaty system. But a document linked to the recent arrest of a scientist has raised questions about Russia’s long-term interest in Antarctic oil.

Transcript

00:00Antarctica is designated as a natural reserve, but in the 1980s some countries were eyeing

00:09off its mineral resources.

00:11I actually said to myself, bullshit, and that's what it was.

00:16Here was the one remaining pristine continent in the world.

00:20Australia's then Prime Minister Bob Hawke led a successful international push for an

00:25indefinite mining ban on the icy continent.

00:28Australia and the Green Movement are claiming victory for their campaign to prevent mining

00:33in the Antarctic.

00:36But questions are now being raised about Russia's long-term adherence to the ban.

00:41A Russian document linked to the recent arrest of a Ukrainian scientist in occupied Crimea

00:46says proposed marine protected areas in Antarctica would lead to the loss of the opportunity

00:52to develop hydrocarbon resources by Russia on the continental shelf of Antarctica.

00:58It's possible that within the Russian government there's some thinking of a desire to undertake

01:04these sort of activities in the future.

01:06It's hard to tell.

01:07In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Australia expects all Antarctic

01:12treaty parties to comply with all of their obligations under the environmental protocol.

01:18We should be pressing them very hard on what their activities are and what their activities

01:24are intended to lead to.

01:27The ABC approached the Russian government and its Antarctic Research Institute for comment,

01:33but neither replied.

01:35The Russian embassy in Australia said it had no comment to make on the matter.

01:39That's right.

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