OREANDA-NEWS. November 27, 2008. Russia is preparing for a new Arctic expedition next spring to continue the study of the Lomonosov Ridge in order to provide evidence about the extension of the country’s Arctic shelf.

Russia is preparing for a new Arctic expedition. The expediton’s goal is to continue the study of the Mendeleyev and Lomonosov Ridges and prove that these underwater mountains are a continuation of the continent and therefore a part of Russia. The area is assumed to hold large amounts of oil and gas. The petroluem development of the Lomonosov Ridge alone could bring Russia up to five billion metric tons of oil equivalent, experts say.

The expedition will be led by the famous Russian Arctic explorer Artur Chilingarov and is scheduled to start by the end of April 2009. It is not yet known which nuclear icebreaker the expedition will use.

A member of the Arkhangelsk regional assembly recently suggested naming an Arctic island after Mr. Chilingarov, or after the oil company LUKOIL.

– Imagine the number of new islands which will be discovered with the global warming and the ice melting in the Arctic. Our country is in a crisis and by selling the right to name all the new islands, we will get a new item of revenue in our budgets, Mr. Azovskiy said.