Shale Gas Helps Open First Arctic Winter Ship Crossing

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

November 26, 2012 | 1:31 PM

Sailing from Norway to Japan, the Ob River, a large tanker carrying liquefied natural gas, is making the first arctic crossing of its kind during the winter months thanks to sea ice melt, and shale gas. The BBC reports that the Russian energy company Gazprom leased the specially equipped tanker from the Greek company Dynagas. The ship can carry up to 150,000 cubic meters of LNG. The arctic passage will shave 20 days off the journey, and reduce fuel costs by 40 percent. Here’s more from the BBC on the role of shale gas:

But melting ice is not the only factor. A major element is the emergence of shale gas in the US.
The Norwegian LNG plant at Hammerfest was developed with exports to the US in mind. But the rapid uptake of shale in America has curbed the demand for imported gas.
Meanwhile in Japan, in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, there has been a growing interest in alternative power sources, especially gas.

The retreating ice is opening up new sea routes from the Atlantic to the Pacific

“The major point about gas is that it now goes east and not west,” says Gunnar Sander, senior adviser at the Norwegian Polar Institute and an expert on how climate change impacts economic activity in the Arctic.

A nuclear powered ice breaker is tagging along on the trip.