ARCTIC OPERATIONSAn open Arctic and its impact on drillingWilliam Cho, Head of MatthewsDaniel Weather, a division of the Bureau Veritas Group, explains why improvements in drilling technologies and weather monitor-ing systems have made offshore shelf drilling operations in the Arctic Circle in-creasingly attractive to upstream oil and gas companies and their investors. By William Choising crude oil prices motivate not only techno- Another record ice-melt was observed in the summer of logical innovators to explore cheaper alternative 2012, leaving the Northwest Passage navigable. The next Renergy sources, such as solar panels and wind tur- record low ice is expected to occur in 2015 or 2016. These bines, but also upstream oil and gas companies to explore