Investments in Unsettled Maritime Boundary Contexts: The Role of Bilateral Investment Treaties in Delivering Certainty

Abstract

Abstract Interest in offshore investment is growing: the oil and gas sector has been developing offshore reserves for some time; more recently, the renewable energy sector has also been investing offshore. In that context, this paper considers the legal uncertainties that overlapping sovereign claims in offshore areas create for investments. It then canvasses the commitments that States can accord to address these legal uncertainties, whether unilaterally or through inter-State authorities that jointly regulate areas subject to overlapping claims. This paper is then principally devoted to considering the role of bilateral investment treaties in enforcing such commitments, and otherwise addressing the legal uncertainties generated by overlapping maritime claims. By way of conclusion, this paper considers analogies to other situations where investments are subject to the sovereign rights of more than one State.