"Thawing sea ice and improved technology is opening up the race for natural resource exploration in the Arctic Circle, home to nearly a quarter of the world's untapped oil reserves. Russia leads the race and has promised to adhere to environmental guidelines. But accidents and other damage resulting from the country's oil exploration tell a different story."

Benjamin Bidder, Matthias Schepp, and Gerald Traufetter report for Der Spiegel August 24, 2012. [2]