Otto Spork has hired three glaciers. He is siphoning off the melting glacier water, and plans to put it in tankers and ship it to thirsty companies and countries across the globe.

Water is the new oil, reckons Mr Spork, chief executive of Canadian hedge fund Sextant Capital Management: “Two years ago we were looking for the next big commodity and settled on water. It was underappreciated, mispriced, and growing scarce.”