CRI听力: Greenland Oil Exploration

Off the remote coast of Greenland, the landscape is dotted with the usual sights: whales, seals, fishing villages, and now, an oil rig. The Greenland Government has given an oil company permission to start exploratory drilling off the country's coast, but environmental groups have expressed concern and proposed immediate halt.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

These remote arctic waters are a haven for whales and other rare sea creatures. Beneath the icy waters lies one of the largest untouched oil reserves in the world, off the coast of Greenland's fishing villages, Aasiaat and Kangerlussuaq.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are more than 18 billion barrels of oil and gas beneath the Arctic waters between Greenland and Canada, and 31 billion barrels off Greenland's east coast.

Government-approved production led by Cairn Energy has begun, for these oil hot spots, but the moved has been opposed by environmental groups such as Greenpeace who have called an immediate halt to drilling.

In response, Cairn Energy insists its brand new equipment complies with every level of UK and Norwegian standards, lowering the risk of a potential spill.

The operation is also being protected by a fleet of 'ice-management' ships and support vessels, equipped with the ability to physically tow icebergs away from the rig site.

Simon Thomson, the director of Cairn Energy says that management ships will keep the area secure.

"There are icebergs in the region... not as many as we see out here, we're maybe seeing two or three a day. They were what we were having to effectively 'handle'. So, these support vessels, they form a ring round the drill ships in the safety zone. In the event of an iceberg entering that safety zone, theye tow it out of the way."

Aside from new oil drilling, fishing is the only other established industry in the region. The link between mankind and the environment is very strong, as fishing and hunting have been the main industries in coastal Greenland for generations.

Local hunter and fisherman, Gudmann Fleischer, has concerns about oil exploration.

"I am very worried about the drilling, as it's in a place where the fish and the seals and the whales used to live. I have seen the pollution in the gulf of Mexico and I'm very afraid of what is going to happen here, and to the fisherman."

With the fish population decreasing every year, Greenland still relies on a Danish block grant subsidy for half its annual income.

Global warming is melting the fringes of the frozen world where Greenland's Inuits have hunted seal, whale and polar bears for generations.

The retreating ice could uncover potential oil and mineral resources which, if successfully tapped, could dramatically change the fortunes of this semiautonomous Danish territory of 57,000 people.

Under a self-rule agreement that took effect in 2008, Greenland will use any revenue from oil and minerals to slash its annual grant from Denmark, which currently accounts for one-third of its economy.

Hans-Peder Christensen, the Kangerlussuaq Municipality spokesman for Mineral Resources is hopeful that oil revenue will bring a more prosperous future.

"There is a new opportunity for the youngsters. Especially people who want to get an education, it opens up a whole new world, a whole new set of opportunities."

However, the positive economic effects will come overnight, and the exploration work is still in the very early stages.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.