Is the oil drilling season in the Arctic getting shorter each winter?

1) Permafrost does not melt seasonally. It is called "permafrost" when it remains frozen for at least 2 years without thawing.

2) The extent of the permafrost is shrinking. Parts that have not thawed for thousands of years are now thawing in the summer (no longer permafrost).

3) The surface soil above the permafrost melts seasonally. The thickness of this layer, and the length of time that it remains frozen varies from place to place, and year to year.

4) Northern climates are experiencing longer "growing seasons", the time in which the surface soil is not frozen, and trees and plants can grow. This has been studied to some extent, and would be a more reliable method of gauging tundra melt from season to season, than measuring the oil drilling season.

5) Construction season in the arctic is certainly affected by soil conditions, and availability of "ice roads". There is a construction season, which is lengthened by the practice of stockpiling materials.

6) Once a well is drilled, and pipeline laid, oil production is not affected by the shorter winter season.

Your right. Oil drilling takes some very heavy equipment, and it cannot be moved once the thaw comes (permafrost surface get mushy). The far north is only accessible by land in the winter because it becomes a huge "mud hole" bigger than most states in the lower 48 once the ice thaws. It is totally amazing. There are not even trees big enough that you can tie a winch too - not that you what to pull tons and tons of equipment tree to tree for 1000s of miles.

However, I suspect that they will focus on offshore drilling where the companies can use ships. That will be easier than land exploration is the ice thins enough and the waters stay open more of the year. But drilling deep in the interior will have a much shorter time window as the arctic warms.

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Your friends friend is mistaken. Drilling in the Artic or Antartica is unaffected by the state of the earth being drilled. As for the idea the earth is warming, an unproven and mostly irresponsible ideology by vested interest to affect share prices and political ideology, The permafrost has always fluctuated over long periods . Modern drilling processes are dictated by economics,survey results, and cost effectiveness .

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