Video: Arctic powers duel for potential energy wealth

In what some experts are calling the next battleground for energy resources, the top envoys from five nations bordering the Arctic Ocean began meetings in Greenland on Tuesday. Russia, Norway, Canada, the United States and Greenland all border the Arctic Ocean. Scientists say up to a quarter of the world's untapped oil and gas stocks could lie under the sea bed. Much of the Arctic ocean could soon be free of ice during the summer due to global warming. At present the Arctic Ocean is governed by the Law of the Sea Treaty under which coastal states have the rights to energy resources up to 230 miles out to sea. If that is part of a continental shelf the rights go further. Raising the possibility of competing claims to the Arctic sea bed. Professor Marianne Stenbaek of McGill University states that the issue of arctic sovereignty has military, socio-cultural, and environmental implications, and that "we could see real conflict [over this issue] in the years to come."