It is presently an opportune time to re-examine the legal regime applicable to the waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Although it is probable that Arctic hydrocarbon production and transportation will not occur before the late 1990s, the current lull in exploration activity makes appropriate planning possible.

The Arctic Pilot Project - a proposal to ship liquefied natural gas by tanker from Melville Island through the Northwest Passage to a southern Canadian port - has been rejected because of insufficient information as to markets. American developers in the Beaufort Sea have not yet found sufficient commercial reserves to warrant tanker transportation through the Northwest Passage to the American eastboard. Canadian developers – Dome, Esso and Gulf – are still in the process of assessing hydrocarbon reserves in the Beaufort Sea and, despite satisfactory results of certain well tests in 1984, commercial production has yet to begin.