Russia will present its case for expanding its claim to continental shelf territory in the Arctic Ocean before a United Nations Commission on February 9, Russia's UN mission said on February 4.
Russia submitted an application to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on August 3. Russia claims that the Lomonosov Ridge and other parts of the Arctic seabed belong to its continental shelf.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea allows states to expand their economic zone provided that the seabed beyond it is a natural extension of the continental edge.
Besides Russia, making claims to the same areas under the Arctic Ocean are Canada, Denmark, Norway, and the United States.
Fueling interest in the remote, frigid waters of the Arctic are geological estimates that as much as 30 percent of unexplored global reserves of natural gas and 15 percent of unexplored oil reserves lie in underwater fields there.