Russia to build new naval bases in the Arctic

Russia is going to build bases for the Navy and Border Guard Service along the northern sea route which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, says Security Council chief Nikolay Partushev.

The location of the bases, in some of the most remote areas of the Arctic Sea, has already been drawn up, Patrushev told the council’s meeting in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, on Monday.

However, he says the work on getting them up and running is going slowly.

“It was suggested we set up a patrol group, organize sorties along the northern sea route and develop a respective legal base, however, a lot of that hasn’t been done yet,” Patrushev said, as cited by RIA-Novosti.

The five Arctic powers – Russia, Norway, the United States, Canada and Denmark – have been at odds over how to divide up the region, which is believed to hold huge oil and gas reserves. The dispute has been heating up as rising temperatures make sea ice melt, and provide access to deposits, while record high oil prices make offshore drilling in the Arctic more economic.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an economic zone belonging to a state is limited to 200 nautical miles from the coastline. However, that zone can be extended if a state proves that the continental shelf is a geological extension of the country’s territory.

Since 2007, Russia has conducted several expeditions with the goal to prove that an underwater mountain range is part of its own landmass. Moscow has planned to submit its claim to redraw the map of the Arctic by 2013.

By 2020, Russia will deploy a combined-arms force – including military, border and coastal guard units – to protect its economic and political interests in the Arctic.

Earlier in July this year, after overseeing the start of construction of one of Russia's newest generation of submarines, President Vladimir Putin said: “The Navy is an instrument for defending our national economic interests, including in regions like the Arctic, which holds a rich concentration of bio-resources, as well as deposits of hydrocarbons and other natural resources.”

Iran admits its oil exports down 20-30%

Iran has acknowledged for the first time that its oil exports have fallen 20-30 percent from normal volumes but denied exports were hit by sanctions against its nuclear program.

­A National Iranian Oil Company official in Moscow said on Tuesday that oilfields were under maintenance and crude production was being diverted for refining.

"We have reduced our exports by 20 to 30 percent," Mohammad Ali Emadi told Reuters. "Some part of the reduction is shifting to refining."

"We gradually started to reduce. It is not because of the sanctions but maintenance of the wells," said Emadi. The NIOC official said Iran wanted to export more gas to India and Pakistan to make up for the fall in crude exports.

However the admission that exports have fallen substantially is a change of track for Tehran which until now has denied that the U.S. and European measures have had much or any impact.

Emadi said Iran's normal crude exports were 2.2 million barrels per day in line with external estimates.

A 20-30 percent fall would put Iranian exports at 1.54-1.76 million bpd, off 440-660,000 bpd. Earlier Iran said it plans to increase its crude oil exports to 3 billion barrels per day in the next three years.

Customers in Europe and Asia have been cutting back on purchases of Iranian crude ahead of European Union bans on imports to come into effect on July 1.

South Korea announced on Monday it will halt crude imports from Iran from July 1while China's imports of crude oil from Iran have rebounded despite the threat of sanctions.

China offered Iran to use its tankers for delivery in order to secure at least a part of its oil supply.

At the same time the Japanese parliament approved government insurance cover of up to $7.6 billion for each tanker which carries Iranian crude to the country.

India which won an exemption to US sanctions this week, is also considering providing sovereign guarantees to bypass the EU ban.