Arctic oil production not profitable at present oil prices

http://www.barentsobserver.com
2008-11-18. Researchers from the Russian Federal Institute of Oil and Geology conclude that only a minor part of Russia’s oil and gas fields will be profitable with current oil and gas prices.
In last week’s Arctic Shelf conference in Murmansk, Ludmila Kalist from the Federal Institute of Oil and Geology (VNIGNI) said that only about one percent of Russia’s Arctic shelf hydrocarbons can be profitably extracted with the current oil and gas prices.
The one percent includes only the most easily available fields on shelf, Oilru.com reports with reference to Rbc.ru.
Arctic oil production will be profitable with minimum oil prices of 100 USD per barrel and socalled tax holidays for the petroleum industry, the researcher says. The development of offshore fields is considered at least 50 percent more expensive than land-based fields."