There may be huge amounts of oil in the Arctic [or not]

"Based on our study, there are 40 [billion] to 160 billion barrels of oil north of the Arctic Circle," said Gautier.

SHOOT: 40 billion is enough for the world for just over 1 year. 160 billion is quite a lot. This is like a weather forecaster saying, there's a 20-80% chance of rain. Well...er..which is it? Hopefully there is oil at the Arctic. Unfortunately, even if there is, extraction costs will be high, which means the days of cheap oil are over. If you think oil is cheap now, imagine how cheap it is if you don't have a job. So it's an objective statement whichever way you want to inerpret it.

clipped from edition.cnn.com (CNN) -- Continental shelves beneath the retreating polar ice caps of the Arctic may hold almost double the amount of oil previously found in the region, scientists say. In new findings, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic may be home to 30 percent of the planet's undiscovered natural gas reserves and 13 percent of its undiscovered oil. A team of scientists at the USGS collaborated with international researchers to conduct the first-ever comprehensive assessment of undiscovered oil and gas reserves within the Arctic Circle. "We tried to put some boundaries on the range of possibilities and resources available in the Arctic," said geologist Donald Gautier, lead author of the survey, which is published this week in the journal Science. Undiscovered oil in the Arctic may account for almost 4 percent of the world's remaining conventionally recoverable oil resources, USGS scientists say.