Norway is quickly changing the widely accepted view of oil reserves. In stark contrast to the Middle East's hot climate, Hammerfest, Norway is home to the fifth largest exporter of oil and the third largest exporter of natural gas on earth. The "Snow White" undersea reservoir, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle and located in Hammerfest, the northernmost city in the world, pipes gas from the sea bottom (Reiss).
Despite being one of the world's leading exporters of both oil and natural gas, Norway is now being closely scrutinized for research purposes. As Washington prepares to revamp offshore drilling safety rules after the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico last year, the Norwegian system is being studied by regulators, oil companies, and communities living near offshore finds (Reiss).
Last April, BP experienced the largest accidental oil spill in history, killing eleven workers, injuring seventeen, damaging marine life, and devastating the surrounding economy. Afterwards, a presidential commission was formed to study the incident. William K. Reilly, commission co-chairman, concluded, "This disaster was almost the inevitable result of years of industry and government complacency and lack of attention to safety. This was indisputably the case with BP, Transocean, and Halliburton, as well as the government agency charged with regulating offshore drilling - the former Minerals Management Service .
THE ANTARCTIC CONTINENT Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest, highest, farthest and the most mysterious of all the continents roughly centered around the South Pole. It is the fifth largest and highest continent on earth. It is an island continent, which is almost completely covered by ice...
