"By 2040 or 2050, the Arctic Ocean will be navigable and that will mean significant developments very soon," said Martin Fortier, a Canadian researcher who heads ArticNet which studies the effects of climate change in the far north.

Experts estimate that the Arctic region is home to a quarter of the world's remaining oil reserves.

It is also home to massive gas fields which are virtually unexploited, including those in the Barents Sea and in particular the Russian Shtokman field, which has reserves estimated at 3,200 billion cubic meters.

"The Arctic is part of the solution of the energy problem," Norwegian Oil and Energy Minister Odd Roger Enoksen told the Arctic Frontiers conference.

Despite advances in technology, transportation and production problems remain a a major stumbling block for the oil and gas sector in the far north.

But as energy needs around the world are expected to rise by 40 percent by 2020, four-fifths of which are fossil fuels, every effort should be made to find ways to exploit the Arctic sensibly, experts said.

While the environment is hostile with extreme temperatures, the political situation has been stable since the end of the Cold War.

"This is not the oil from the Middle East. It may be expensive to extract but the political expense per barrel is less," former US ambassador to Norway Tom Loftus said.

Other sectors that could benefit from the opening up of the far north include industrial fishing, Arctic tourism and shipping.

But protecting the untouched environment in one of the world's last "frontiers" was top on the list of participants' concerns at the Tromsoe conference.

Norway's oil and energy minister said the development of the region "will have to take place in harmony with the environment", a view shared by the president of US oil giant ConocoPhillips in Russia, Don Wallete, who pointed out that "the new technologies help reduce the impact for the environment."

But the head of the European Environment Agency (EEA), Jacqueline McGlade, was less optimistic.

"There are growing signs of threats that could potentially destabilise" the region and affect the 10 million indigenous people living in the far north.

She warned of a new Klondike, referring to the area in Alaska that suffered from the sudden and uncontrolled gold rush at the end of the 19th century.

There are numerous treaties and bodies governing the Arctic, such as the Arctic Council which has since 1996 grouped the eight countries bordering the region: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.

But there is no international treaty protecting the Arctic.

"It is clear that dealing with the range of problems and demands in a piecemeal fashion is likely to lead to conflicts and a loss of peace and security," McGlade said.

That fear is shared by US diplomat Tom Loftus, who noted that "this is an area of the world shaped by wars".

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