The Future Lies to the North

Sounds like a good time might be had by all in Nuuk:
Leaders of Arctic nations gather in Greenland this week to chart future cooperation as global warming sets off a race for oil, mineral, fishing and shipping opportunities in the world's fragile final frontier.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join foreign ministers from seven other Arctic states in Greenland's tiny capital of Nuuk -- population 15,000 -- on Thursday for an Arctic Council meeting on the next steps for a region where warming temperatures are creating huge new challenges and unlocking untapped resources.
The council includes the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark, which handles foreign affairs for Greenland, as well as groups representing indigenous inhabitants of the Arctic most directly affected as ice and snow retreat.
This is one of those moments where people will trace the development of what happens in the Arctic Circle back to this particular summit.

If you really believe that there could be 25% of the world's oil and natural gas reserves in the Arctic Circle region, then is to too far-fetched to question whether or not Norway could become the next Saudi Arabia? Or that Russia will see a resurgence of national pride by making use of the infrastructure that it will need to develop in order to reap the benefits of exploiting the Arctic?

If these natural resources are too expensive to extract, what then?