Abstract

International law does not provide clear answers to certain questions arising in relation to common hydrocarbon deposits, i.e. deposits either located where maritime claims overlap (undelimited border deposits) or across a delimited maritime boundary (cross-border deposits). In both scenarios, States and IOCs carrying out unilateral operations may expose themselves to significant legal and practical risks. This paper explores the legal regimes applicable to undelimited border deposits and cross-border deposits respectively, including any differences between the two, to ...