And elsewhere the retreat of the sea ice is already a factor in new exploration.
Oil companies believe the region holds the greatest potential for new exploration and is the nearest to existing infrastructure.
But rising prices will also curb demand and encourage new exploration and investment by oil producers to increase supply.
Tax cuts aimed at job creation is one wish, a faster decision on proposals for new exploration leases on the outercontinental shelf is another.
CNN: Alaska catching up with the rest of the country on recession
The higher utilization could be a result of a resurgence in deepwater activity in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, where the government recently sold leases for new exploration activity.
The government is walking a thin line trying to address environmental concerns with suitable regulation while also looking to boost employment and falling production among oil and gas majors like Exxon and BP by allowing new exploration projects.
Russia and China also have ambitions for new space exploration but some argue that future trips are best left to robots like the rover now on Mars.
BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Bush unveils Moon and Mars plans
New financial players, like South Africa's Nufcor Group and Evolution Markets, a New York-based over the counter brokerage firm, have become active in uranium contracts in the last couple of years, while deep-pocketed investors have financed new uranium exploration operations.
It's very exciting because I think this is going to open up a whole new area for exploration.
With 'Flower Power', Parrot is opening a new path of exploration.
ENGADGET: Parrot's Flower Power monitors plant's environment, sends data to the cloud
Electrochromic glass, with changeable opacity, is one new avenue of exploration.
Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration in the solar system.
ENGADGET: NASA awards Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada $30 million in contracts
The museum's facade was being restored - in itself perhaps a reflection of the fact that the oil wealth which has funded a new era of exploration is also helping to fill the coffers of cultural institutions.
The recent discoveries by Statoil in the Barents Sea have fueled new interest in exploration activity in the Arctic regions of Norway, leading to record levels of drilling in 2011 with 4 additional wells planned this year and 7 more in 2012.
FORBES: Arctic Chill As Norway And Transocean Try To Offset Production Declines
They are, depending on your perspective, either pursuing the ultimate vanity project or are on the forefront of a new age of exploration that harkens back to the great adventurers of centuries past when men (and they were nearly all men) ventured into the vast blank spots on the world map.
As hydrocarbons run short, rising prices tend to spur both innovation and new, more expensive exploration activity.
FORBES: State Of The Union: Apparently, Hugh Hefner is Responsible for Abstinence
And just yesterday, we announced the next step for potential new oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic.
WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Speaks on Repealing Subsidies for Oil Companies | The White House
"Placing a NEA in lunar orbit would provide a new capability for human exploration not seen since Apollo, " the report reads.
MSN: NASA might lasso an asteroid and drag it to orbit near moon
"The success of the cabinet depends on the vision of the President, " says Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who heads the new Ministry of Maritime Exploration.
The shrinking of the region's sea ice -- which hit record lows this year -- has created new opportunities for energy exploration in the region.
And the shrinking of the region's sea ice -- which hit record lows in 2012 -- has created new opportunities for energy exploration in the region.
We truly are in a New Golden Age of Exploration!
FORBES: Stairway to Heaven: Another "Giant Leap" for Mankind
While Mr Raymond, with his doctorate in chemical engineering, publicly doubted climate change, the company quietly researched whether global warming could open up new areas for oil exploration.
"All the sudden, you have these new visions for space exploration, and there's renewed excitement, " says Marco Caceres, senior analyst and director of space studies for aerospace consultancy the Teal Group.
While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop these capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration.
ENGADGET: NASA awards Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada $30 million in contracts
Here on the Space Coast, we started a new era of American exploration that is creating good jobs right here in this county. (Applause.) We've begun an ambitious new direction for NASA by laying the groundwork for 21st century space flight and innovation.
Today, three years after Deepwater Horizon, offshore drilling is booming in the Gulf of Mexico, driven by the continued high price of oil, a series of massive new fields discovered with the help of improved exploration technology, and the growing difficulty of finding major new oil fields abroad.
America has not developed a new vehicle to advance human exploration in space in nearly a quarter century.
CNN: Bush: 'It is time for America to take the next steps' in space
Recent exploration in a new area revealed estimated oil and gas reserves of 3 billion to 15 billion barrels.
应用推荐