Natural resources of the Arctic

The United States Geological Survey estimates that 22 percent of the world's oil and natural gas could be located beneath the Arctic.

Russia continued to expand both its pipeline networks and its seaborne capacity, with absolute maritime transportation of petroleum growing but remaining a small portion of the overall exports.

[2] The Arctic holds large quantities of minerals, including phosphate, bauxite, iron ore, copper, nickel, and diamond.

In 2010, Russia also extracted and processed bauxite into 3.85 M tons of aluminum, constituting 9.3% of the global production and making it the second-largest producer in the world after China.

These vessels are capable of breaking through 1.5 m (5 ft) of ice at a rate of 1–2 knots, without the support of an icebreaker, while transporting 14,500 tons of cargo.

[3] The often mountainous areas and the low population density means that the villages in the Arctic often are self suppliant on electricity through hydro power.