There was a game we played when I was a child where you would run to the top of the nearest hill, sand dune or rampaging Tyrannosaurus Rex (kids had more imagination in those days) and shout “I'm the King of the Castle and you're the dirty rascal.” These last words were said whilst pointing at the poor unfortunates who had failed to get to the top in time.

It may sound like a strange comparison but that's what keeps on running round my head whenever I hear of the new claims and counter claims by various countries over the Arctic.

When Russia dropped a titanium capsule with a flag in it onto the bottom of the Arctic seabed last year, it came across, at first, as a rather old-fashioned gesture; man or rather tiny submarine with men inside going where no man or very small submarine has been before - a throwback to the brave days of Soviet and pre-revolution exploring.

They were going exploring, deep down to the Lomonosov ridge, an underwater ridge discovered by a Soviet expedition in 1948, and were going to put a flag there before anybody else did whatever the cost (a few million dollars if you were wondering).

Luckily for them, nobody else had even thought of doing such a thing so they were the first and probably the last to put a flag on the seabed there until the seas run dry in the 34^th century and anyone can just drive out there for a barbecue.

But the flag was also a kindly reminder that exploration is driven by lots of things; ego, the pursuit of scientific knowledge, not knowing what to do with that free titanium flag you got in the post, and most importantly the desire to dig up something and sell it.

A recent US geological survey reported that the Arctic contained a third of the world's remaining uncharted gas and a fifth of the world's uncharted oil. This means the Arctic is now like a cute girl who has wandered accidentally into a Foreign Legion outpost. Lots of admirers but you don't fancy her chances really.

With the ice caps starting to thin out, making exploration if not easy but slightly less difficult, the race is on for some of the last supplies of oil and gas.

Russia is not alone in wanting a large piece of this pie - the US, Canada, Denmark and Norway are also sniffing round, each trying to say that the Arctic has always been quintessentially Russian/Danish/American/Norwegian and that their interest has little to do with the natural resources.

You can imagine them gathering round a table in a remote northern outpost declaiming “We have always thought of the Arctic as part of us. Did you see how many people went to see that Penguin film here. What do you mean wrong icy bit?”

Russia has been the least subtle about its desires. The flag dropping was part of its claim to a huge chunk of the Arctic by showing that the Lomonosov Ridge is a continuation of the Siberian continental shelf.

No decision has been made on its claim but President Dmitry Medvedev is already talking about how the deposits will be dealt with and how they will be issued at the government's discretion.

Before deciding about digging up deposits, it would be nice if there could be a debate about the wiseness of going to the top of the world and drilling.

As an aside the ridge in question was named after the Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov although this had to be approved by the Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names.

I humbly suggest that the sub-committee give all the undersea parts new rude names as a form of protection so that all the nations are too embarrassed to claim ownership of Venereal Disease ridge and the Arctic Arse Basin. The committee can send me an e-mail if they want the really rude names I've thought up.

Whilst most media outlets were happy to write and discuss the race for the North Pole, who was being more aggressive and who was likely to win, there has been little talk in Russia on whether this should be done or about the major misgivings that scientists and environmentalists have about digging for oil and gas in the Arctic.

"We should not be going to the ends of the Earth for the last drop - that is the behavior of a crazed addict - we should move on to the post-fossil-fuel-era," said James Hansen, a scientist at NASA who has pressed for cuts in fossil fuel burning, speaking to the Dot Earth blog.

In that childhood game of mine, the king of the castle never remained in place for very long. His claims to be king were after all based on nothing but position where he was at the top of the hill and on his ability to give a good talk. It didn't take long before the rascal knocked him over, a new king was in place and the chant began all over again.

Kevin O'Flynn, a British freelance journalist based in Moscow

August 8, 2008