After following this thread from the beginning, I think I know what's going on (assuming this isn't an elaborate hoax).

I think the U.S. is trying out a new nanotechnological (most likely bio-engineered by Synthetic Genomics) system to clean up and collect the oil/gas, and naturally every other Nation wants to see what's going on. The successful deployment of this nano-system would give the U.S. a huge advantage in every sense. This would explain the tight security in the region, and the OP's story thus far. It seems possible that a large artificial underwater formation, or perhaps an existing underwater caldera has been engineered to act as a gas and oil collection site, and this is where the nanotech is being deployed.

Link to Synthetic Genomics

[link to www.syntheticgenomics.com]