Approaches of foreign countries to legal regulation of the oil and gas development on the Arctic continental shelf

The article studies the legal approaches of the USA, Canada, Greenland, Norway and Iceland towards regulation of the oil and gas drilling on the Arctic shelf. Similarities and differences in the legislation are highlighted on the basis of analyzing the legal provisions of each state. The criteria for the comparative analysis are the extent of legislation development, flexibility of provisions, division of regulative and control functions among the state bodies, etc. The author concludes that while legislation of Iceland and Greenland is only on its way to a final drafting and mainly refers to international standards, Norway, on the contrary, is an example of a state with well-developed legislation enabling it to be one of the leaders in oil and gas industry. Though the USA and Canada have elaborated system of regulation of oil and gas companies’ activities on the Arctic shelf. Both are notable for strict provisions, that contributed to the outflow of private operators from the Arctic shelf.