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This article explores the jurisdiction and delimitation issues surrounding energy installations at sea, as well as the placement and environmental impact assessments of offshore platforms. It also discusses the apportioning of responsibility and liability for pipelines and specific projects.
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Energy at Sea:New challenges over troubled waters Professor Maria Gavouneli Faculty of Law, University of Athens National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at Sea A multitude of sources: • Oil and gas: > Offshore installations > Pipelines • Renewable sources of energy: Windmills Wave turbines > Cables National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at sea • Jurisdiction: Who’s the boss? • Maritime zones: jurisdictional gradation • TS: sovereignty • BUT: innocent passage • CS: sovereign rights • Anything attached to the seabed? Mineral resources of the seabed and the subsoil – art. 77 LOSC • EEZ: sovereign rights • Economic exploration and exploitation …. such as the production of energy – art. 56 LOSC National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at sea • Jurisdiction (cont’d): • Delimitation: • Energy installations as special circumstances: • An economic factor: • Tunisia/Libya (1985), para. 107 • ONLY upon express or implied agreement: • Cameroun/Nigeria (2002), para. 304 • Nicaragua/Honduras (2007), paras 207-208 • Guyana/Suriname (2007), paras 466-467 National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at Sea • Jurisdiction (cont’d): • The Cyprus agreements: • Agreement between the Republic of Cyprus and the Arab Republic of Egypt on the Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone, 17 February 2003 (entry into force: 7 March 2004) • Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Lebanon and the Government of the Cypriot Republic Delimiting the Exclusive Economic Zone, 17 January 2007 (not in force) • Agreement between the Government of the State of Israel and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus on the Delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone, signed in Nicosia on 17 December 2010 (entry into force: 25 February 2011) National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at Sea National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at Sea National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at sea • Placement • Environmental Impact Assessment: The principle National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at sea • Placement (cont’d) • Environmental impact assessment: The content • Mediterranean Offshore Protocol 1994: • A survey concerning the effects of the proposed activities on the environment – art. 5 • … which may amount to an EIA – Annex IV • Oil and gas platforms ONLY • Espoo Convention 1991: all offshore installations • Directive 85/337/EC: all offshore installations National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at Sea • Placement (cont’d) • Due regard to other uses of the seas: • Navigation: major trade routes • Fisheries: commercial and subsistence overfishing • Tourism: integrated coastal zone management • Prospecting: methane crystals • Sustainability: • Climate change considerations: a different mix? • Emissions management National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at sea • Placement (cont’d): allocating space to different uses ensuring sustainability and in the high seas? National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at sea • Apportioning responsibility • The general rule: applicable to all offshore installations • Art. 235 LOSC • Mediterranean Convention 1976/1995 • Directive 2004/35/EU National & Kapodistrian University of Athens
Energy at sea • Apportioning responsibility (cont’d) • Allocating liability: • Pipelines: arts 113-114 LOSC • Operational agreements on specific projects National & Kapodistrian University of Athens