Development of new rig concepts with the ice-breaking capability needed to extend the operational window is seen as a critical enabler to unlock potentially vast untapped hydrocarbon resources trapped hundreds of metres beneath the Arctic seafloor.
The potential value of these resources has been undermined by falling oil prices, however, discouraging explorers from prospecting in a high-cost frontier region fraught with environmental risk and leaving new rig development projects in the freezer.
However,
