{"id":2239,"date":"2025-02-07T12:40:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T17:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.canadianinstitute.com\/arcticenergy\/?page_id=2239"},"modified":"2025-05-28T14:46:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T18:46:26","slug":"energy-and-critical-mineral-resources-are-heating-up-the-arctic-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.canadianinstitute.com\/arcticenergy\/energy-and-critical-mineral-resources-are-heating-up-the-arctic-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Article – Energy and Critical Mineral Resources Are Heating up the Arctic in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Energy and Critical Mineral Resources Are Heating up the Arctic in 2025<\/h1>\r\n

Maureen McCall<\/p>\r\n

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\u201cGo West, young man, go West \u2026 and grow up with the country\u201d<\/em> is a phrase attributed to\u202fHorace Greeley from\u202fNew York Daily Tribune back in 1865. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

In 2025 the phrase might be updated to \u201cGo North, young man\u2026\u201d as optimism rises about the oil and gas and critical minerals potential in the Arctic. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

According to an assessment conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Arctic holds an estimated 13% (90 billion barrels) of the world’s undiscovered conventional oil resources and 30% of its undiscovered conventional natural gas resources.<\/strong> The USGS has estimated that the Arctic may hold a majority of the world\u2019s remaining untapped oil and gas reserves and predicts the majority of these to be located offshore. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Although the argument that U.S. shale production is peaking is questionable, the fact that production has grown more slowly in recent years (according<\/a> to the U.S. Energy Information Administration) is making the challenging but ample reserves in Alaska more attractive. More urgently, the Arctic could also be a vital supplier of critical minerals and the race for those minerals is \u201cheating up the Arctic\u201d. The Arctic Economic Council\u2019s latest \u201cArctic Mining Report 2024<\/a>\u201d states that 31 out of the 34 materials identified as essential for technologies like renewable energy installations and electric vehicle batteries are found in the Arctic with Greenland having one of the world\u2019s largest deposits of nickel and cobalt, while Alaska has one of the largest zinc mines globally. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s Jan 20th executive order \u201cUnleashing Alaska\u2019s Extraordinary Resource Potential\u201d reversing Joe Biden\u2019s previous policies, reopening vast areas for drilling and mining, and expediting permits for projects has stoked enthusiasm for development. Discussions of the challenges, geopolitical elements like tariffs, development costs, and project plans have begun. The 2025 Arctic Energy & Resource Symposium<\/a> next month in Calgary is bringing together a roster of subject matter experts to address them. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

I had the chance to catch up with Heather Exner-Pirot<\/strong>, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and keynote at the symposium speaking on Ambition to Reality: Scaling up Investment in Canada\u2019s North<\/em>. Exner-Pirot recognizes the geopolitical motivations behind Arctic development, including energy transition, defence and supply chains that are overly dependent on China. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

\u201cTrump is talking about Greenland for its critical minerals,\u201d Exner-Pirot said. \u201cCanada’s talking about critical minerals and critical mineral alliances. So that’s positive. I’m definitely in favour of developing the region. But the flip side of that is the economic drivers. The rhetoric has not been matched by commodity prices. Investment is still very difficult. Climate change doesn’t really make it cheaper. In many ways, it makes it more expensive because things like ice roads are more difficult to build because we have melting permafrost. The rhetoric and the reality are still far apart.\u201d <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The upside is that development would help communities, that would help the Canadian military, and it would help resource companies. Infrastructure may be expensive, but sharing the burden, for things like Fiber-optic\u202fcommunications connecting to a mine could go to communities or a NORAD site. Ultimately every territory will have favourite projects according to Exner-Pirot. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Katie Kachur<\/strong>, VP of Government Relations West – Canadian Propane Association who will be leading at discussion on \u201cAssessing the Viability of Renewables in the Territories\u201d says \u201cThe biggest challenge in Arctic energy development lies in balancing the unique energy needs of rural, remote, and Indigenous communities with the broader goals of reliability, affordability, and low emissions.\u201d <\/p>\r\n\r\n

She emphasizes the need for energy choice – offering diverse and flexible energy options that meet unique needs, supporting both everyday energy requirements and critical services in harsh Arctic conditions. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The symposium includes region-specific workshops on \u201cHow to Successfully Complete the Regulatory Processes for Your Project in Northern Canada\u201d and \u201cForming Meaningful Indigenous Engagement in Arctic Communities\u201d to unpack region-specific approaches. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

With discussions on topics such as Indigenous Equity Partnerships, Leveraging Technology to Build Capacity, Addressing Infrastructure Challenges, Attracting Stable Investment in Arctic Canada and Unlocking Procurement Opportunities, the symposium<\/a> promises to bring together industry stakeholders as well as provincial, indigenous and territorial government expertise and insights. <\/p>\r\n\r\n

To register or learn more about the Arctic Energy & Resource Symposium, visit https:\/\/www.canadianinstitute.com\/arcticenergy\/<\/a>. <\/p> \r\n\r\n

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