While territorial claims are and will likely be heated, what struck me is that the area is right near the Drake Passage, in the Weddell Sea (which is fundamental to the world’s ocean currents AFAIU).
I don’t know how oil drilling in the antarctic could affect the passage, but still, I’m not sure I would trust human oil hunger with a 10ft pole on that one.
Also interestingly, the discovery was made by Russia, which is a somewhat ominous clue about where the current “multi-polar” world and climate change are heading. Antarctica, being an actual continent that thrived with life up until only about 10-30 M yrs ago, is almost certainly full of resources.
I’d actually be curious to know if melting ice caps makes oil drilling more or less hazardous in this case.
But 100% agreed on not trusting oil companies to be mindful when doing anything there. We may also be hearing some formal declaration from the US saying the penguins have WMDs and are anti freedom in the not so distant future.
We only attack ‘half-black’ entities, it’s politically expedient.
I would think if the cap is melting, even keeping the rig in place would be a problem.