Data Worth Billions of ISK to Iceland

Although oil exploration efforts in the Dreki region, or Dragon Zone, in the North Atlantic, were abandoned in the past decade and did not lead to oil being extracted, the research involved did produce knowledge and data most valuable to Iceland, Morgunblaðið reports.  

The Dreki region is near Jan Mayen Island, between Iceland and Norway. Scientists at ÍSOR, Iceland GeoSurvey, state that the data obtained is worth billions of ISK and is sure to prove useful to the nation in the future.

Numerous foreign expeditions are done every year to research the ocean floor around Iceland. Companies are granted research permits on the condition that they turn in all data collected to Icelandic authorities. Not all the companies have turned in their data, but Iceland GeoSurvey has been asked by Icelandic authorities to see to that they do so.

As we reported earlier, British scientists recently revealed that they believe they have discovered a sunken continent they choose to call Icelandia, hidden under Iceland and the surrounding ocean. The continent may stretch from Greenland to Europe, covering an area of around 600,000 km2. 

Their theory, along with other research results, could, in the view of Iceland GeoSurvey project managers Steinunn Hauksdóttir and Bjarni Richter, potentially strengthens Iceland’s position when it comes to demanding rights over the ocean floor beyond the country’s economic zone. New knowledge, they claim, in particular the interpretation of the natural continuation of the continental shelf, could possibly change and sharpen the Icelandic State’s reasoning regarding ocean affairs.

Iceland GeoSurvey plays an important role in researching the ocean floor around Icealnd, with regard to ocean affairs and natural resource affairs.

Steinunn emphasizes that the nation’s livelihood is to a large extent dependent on ocean resources, making it necessary to do extensive research of the ocean floor. This could, for example, benefit companies in the fishing industry. Bjarni adds that this knowledge could, too, be valuable when it comes to protecting fish populations.