Is there oil in the Arctic?

      Interesting question if you are looking for energy in faraway places.  Gary Roughead, retired admiral and former chief of naval operations(2007-11), wrote recently that the US is falling behind other countries in their search for oil under the Arctic ice.  Russyan has a warm water port of sorts at Sabetta on the Kara Sea where ice breakers can operate more closely to sites currently being explored.  Russya began producing oil at the Prirazlomnaya in the Pechora Sea in 2014.  Last year it produced 2.2 million barrels.
      China is also in on the hunt: 3 international companies were buying international oil assets.  But China may be looking elsewhere for oil: in the South China Sea, in an area of formerly submerged reefs.  Over the last 2+ years, Chinese engineering firms with the cooperation of the government, of course, have been building up island bases in and area known as the Spratly Islands.  More information will be forthcoming as the US Navy moves into the region to challenge Chinese claims of sovereignty over the reefs.
      Royal Dutch Shell announced a pull back from its efforts to establish oil drilling operations in the Arctic.   Given the price of oil per barrel today, it seems that more companies will reduce investments in exploration and research.