While territorial claims are and will likely be heated, what struck me is that the area is right near the Drake Passage, in the Weddell Sea (which is fundamental to the world’s ocean currents AFAIU).
I don’t know how oil drilling in the antarctic could affect the passage, but still, I’m not sure I would trust human oil hunger with a 10ft pole on that one.
Also interestingly, the discovery was made by Russia, which is a somewhat ominous clue about where the current “multi-polar” world and climate change are heading. Antarctica, being an actual continent that thrived with life up until only about 10-30 M yrs ago, is almost certainly full of resources.
“climate change is actually good because it’ll melt all this ice that’s in the way of our oil!”
“The more oil we use, the more ice we clear! The more ice we clear, the more oil to use! It’s a never ending cycle of win!”
That’s actually a real strategy by Russia. Since they have so few deep water ports for their Navy, if temperatures rise then they have new options in their far north territories.