The Law of the Sea and Maritime Boundary Disputes in Areas of Hydrocarbon Potential: A Review of Global Hot Spots

The United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (‘UNCLOS’) is hailed as one of the most significant multilateral legal agreements executed in the past few decades. However, its shortcomings are neither trivial nor inconsequential, especially regarding maritime boundary disputes involving hydrocarbon resources. This monograph examines the relationship between UNCLOS and maritime boundaries in five non-polar regions, encompassing almost 90% of global unresolved disputes involving offshore hydrocarbon development. The regions, which include the eastern Mediterranean, the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, northeast Asia, and the South China Sea, were chosen for their oil and gas resources potential and recent military skirmishes that have the potential to lead to wider regional confrontations. The book addresses each region’s maritime boundary status in the context of specific articles within UNCLOS that have been exploited by disputing states to justify their overlapping claims. The history and future applicability of multilateral Joint Development Area agreements for each region are evaluated for their potential to provide a cooperative solution to resolve ongoing tensions.

Highlighting the limitations of current ‘gun-boat’ diplomacy, the monograph makes practical suggestions for new paradigms for resolving outstanding disputes, promoting lasting peace and generating economic benefits resulting from resource development.