Alaskan waters remain off-limits to drilling, much to many oil companies' dismay. But Exxon has decided to hop over the Bering Strait, and make a deal with Russia to explore for oil in the Arctic Ocean in their territory. This deal may show how lucrative climate change has become to the oil business, since more oil is becoming available as Arctic ice recedes.
Lisa Margonelli, director of the Energy Policy Initiative at the New America Foundation, thinks this is an important deal because it shows a significant shift from natural gas back to oil.