Iceland review - 2013, Qupperneq 68

66 ICELAND REVIEW
Until not that long ago, the image of Iceland—the sub-
arctic nation and poster child for renewable energy—as
a producer of oil seemed improbable. But, 50 years
after the first indications that oil might exist in Icelandic waters,
the country’s National Energy Authority (NEA) granted the first
two licenses for exploration and production of hydrocarbons.
Should the initial phases prove successful, exploratory drilling
will take place in four to seven years.
loNg TiME CoMiNg
It was back in the 1960s when scientists mapping the sea floor
first discovered that a fragment of continental crust—a prem-
ise of any chance of finding oil or gas—may exist in Icelandic
In the
Dragon’s
Den
By Zoë roBErT
PHOTO AND ILLuSTRATION By PÁll STEfÁNSSoN
waters. over the years, further research and surveys have been
conducted, but various factors resulted in exploration being
put on hold.
“At the time [of early discussions in the 80s], oil prices
were around uSd 30 a barrel and the technology was not
even there so this was not something that was economical at
the time,” explains Þórarinn Sveinn Arnarson, manager of the
hydrocarbon exploration division at NEA.
The area, known as drekasvæði (‘dragon zone’), lies on part
of the Jan Mayen Ridge, approximately 340 kilometers north-
east of the Icelandic mainland and the same distance southwest
of the tiny Norwegian island of Jan Mayen. According to a
1981 agreement between Iceland and Norway on the division
of the continental shelf in the Jan Mayen area, Norway has the
Iceland’s National Energy Authority issued
the first licenses for oil exploration in
Icelandic waters in early January.
Zoë Robert looks at the potential
impacts for Iceland if oil is discovered.
looking towards the Dragon Zone: lundey island off Northeast iceland.