NEW YORK: The race for petroleum resources above the Arctic Circle is likely to speed up in coming years, as the polar ice cap melts and access to oil and gas reserves in many other places around the world becomes more challenging.

The lure of the Arctic as oil's next big frontier was vindicated this week as a major geological survey found the region might hold as much as a fifth of the world's yet to-be-discovered oil and natural gas reserves.

Many of these new resources, according to the survey, are to be found in Russia. If true, that would cement Russia's position as one of the world's dominant energy players, particularly for natural gas, and increase its already powerful clout over Europe's energy supplies.

As the melting polar caps open up prospects that were once considered too harsh to explore, a race has begun among countries including the United States, Russia and Canada for control of these Arctic resources. The findings by the United States Geological Survey, which constitute the largest-ever survey of petroleum resources north of the Arctic Circle, could accelerate this scramble.