Legal regime governing the exploitation of offshore oil and gas shared resources (maritime borders)

Natural resources, mainly hydrocarbons, play a crucial role in maritime delimitation and one of main problems between neighbor countries is about oil and gas resources across their common boundaries. Practical and legal challenges arise between two countries when transboundary hydrocarbon reservoirs are discovered .the fluid nature of hydrocarbons makes them migrate through rocks across the border area and sometimes the maritime boundary. Unilateral exploitation and uncontrolled drilling such as horizontal drilling may increase the risk and waste of resource and lead to pollution of the marine environment.So the legal regime governing exploitation of these resources has high importance. International instrument such as bilateral treaties and united nation convention on the law of seas ۱۹۸۲, stipulates provisional arrangements for exploring and exploiting hydrocarbons in overlapping maritime areas and some mechanism like Joint development agreements and transboundary unitization agreements are legal solutions proposed in these documents. However, complications arise when neighboring coastal states are unwilling to cooperate in managing transboundary hydrocarbons. In this research, using descriptive and analytical methods and using library resources and texts, we examined the exploitation of offshore shared oil and gas resources in Iran legal regime and international law. In addition a comparative study to assess international legal provisions and domestic regulations is done. The study reviews primary and secondary legal sources, including international treaties, bilateral delimitation agreements, judicial decisions, and national and international legislation, alongside academic literature.this research show that there is several legal mechanism to manage exploitation of shared oil and gas resources but since the issue of exploitation this resources is a multidimensional matter with domestic and international aspects, governments cannot be required to use a specific method in exploiting these resources. Instead, governments themselves determine the type and format of exploitation of these resources based on political relations, economic interests, the specific conditions of each oil field or reservoir, their technology and technical capabilities, and other factors.Petroleum deposits often extend across national boundaries in such a manner that “either portion can be exploited, wholly or in part, from the other side of the line.”Transboundary oil and gas deposits “do not conform to property lines, licensing demarcations, or political boundaries” and there are no binding rules or customs under international law governing exploitation of shared offshore oil and gas resources, and often bilateral agreement between countries determine exploitation mechanisms. But in general there is a trend towards an international consensus on an acceptable practice to cooperation in management of this resources and Applying methods based on interaction and cooperation between countries that own a common reservoir such as joint development agreement, unitization and other similar methods which prevents unilateral exploitation, waste of resources, and the creation of disputes By encouraging countries to cooperate in exploitation of offshore oil and gas shared resources.

کلیدواژه ها:

oil and gas ، shared resources ، Maritime borders ، Legal system ، and international law