UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — On Monday, Russia submitted a revised application to the United Nations seeking an expansion of the Arctic continental shelf limits with the addition of the Lomonosov Ridge and other entities of continental nature. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow expects an application to be considered by the UN commission on the limits of the continental shelf in the fall of 2015.
"Given that there is no plenary during the upcoming 39th session… the revised submission will be included in the provisional agenda for the the 40th session of the Commission to be held in February/March 2016," Haq said, adding that the exact dates will be determined in late December.
The Russian Foreign Ministry clarified that the country was claiming over 463,000 square miles of Arctic sea shelf.
Since 2001, Russia has been claiming a hydrocarbon-rich shelf land, including the Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges, but its first application was rejected in 2002 due to a lack of geological evidence.
Denmark, Canada, the United States, and Norway have also expressed interest in the region with high oil and natural gas potential.
