Maersk Aspires to Arctic Year-round Drilling

Mærsk's oil drilling subsidiary is investing heavily in Arctic-ready drilling rigs, a move that is concerning environmental organisations.

According to 'The Copenhagen Post' Maersk Drilling is going to be a key player in opening the Arctic to oil exploration by developing rigs that can drill for oil year-round under extreme conditions.

Maersk Drilling belongs to the A.P. Moller Maersk group which also has an oil company, Maersk Oil. But while Maersk Drilling has taken out patents for technology that would allow them to drill in the Arctic, Maersk Oil only owns a limited number of licences for drilling in that area. It is therefore likely they will team up with other companies that have larger drilling licences in the region, such as Shell and Gazprom.

Environmental groups have long opposed oil exploration in the Arctic over fears of the environmental damage that would be caused by an oil disaster similar to the enormous spill in 2010 resulting from a blowout of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico.