The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric , took a position against the possibility of developing oil exploitation in the deposits that Russia reported that it had discovered in the area . Through social network X, the trans-Andean president expressed his rejection of gas and oil extraction in the vast reserves that the Russians would have found.
“Chile has defended, defends and will defend that Antarctica is a continent of science and peace,” Boric published on his X account (ex Twitter). The president added that "we will firmly oppose any commercial exploitation of minerals and hydrocarbons and we will work together with all the claimant countries and the signatories of the Antarctic Treaty to ensure respect for this norm by any nation."
Added to these statements are the statements of the Chilean Foreign Minister, Alberto Van Klaveren, who stated that "unconfirmed news about mineral and hydrocarbon reserves in Antarctica occasionally arises." Adding that “the Antarctic regime prohibits its prospecting and exploitation. And Chile, like other Antarctic countries, will continue to firmly defend the preservation of Antarctica.”
In this way, the hydrocarbon discovery continues to generate repercussions, taking into account that Argentina has already announced a request for a report on the subject from Moscow and from Great Britain the political sector also expressed concern about this situation.
The Russian geological agency Rosgeo validated studies by the Russian polar research vessel Alexander Karpinsky in 2020 on the availability of some 70 billion tons of oil and gas buried beneath the Antarctic shelf .
According to the British newspaper “The Daily Telegraph”, this is around 511 billion barrels of oil , which is equivalent to around 10 times the production of the North Sea in the last 50 years .
