ownership of oil and gas resources in the caspian sea

5/28/2018 Ownership of Oil and Gas Resources in the Caspian Sea

Ownership of Oil and Gas Resources in the Caspian SeaAuthor(s): Kamyar MehdiyounSource: The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 94, No. 1 (Jan., 2000), pp. 179-189Published by: American Society of International LawStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2555242.

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CURRENT DEVELOPMENTSOWNERSHIP OF OIL AND GAS RESOURCES IN THE CASPIAN SEA

INTRODUCTIONIn the aftermath f thebreakupof the Soviet Union and thebirthofnewsovereignnationsbordering heCaspian Sea, the egal status fthe sea has emergedas one ofthemost ontentiousnternationalroblems acing heregion.The discoveryf argeoffshore

oil and gas deposits n the area has added urgency o the need to resolve he twin ssuesofthe egal status f the sea and the correspondingmining ights.'The Caspian, the argest nland bodyof water n the world, s approximatelyhesize ofJapan.2 he southCaspian s thedeepest part nd contains he mostproductive il andgasfields.The oil-producing rea of the south Caspian thatholds the most promiseextendsalonga narrow tructuralone across the sea from he ApsheronPeninsula n Azerbaijanto thePeri-Balkhanegionof western urkmenistan.3As a result f the breakupof the SovietUnion in 1991,five ittoral tatesnow border hesea: Russia,Kazakhstan, urkmenistan,ran, and Azerbaijan.One author has calculatedeach state's hareofthecoastline s follows: ussia,18.5 percent;Kazakhstan, 0.8 percent;Turkmenistan,6.8 percent; ran, 18.7 percent; nd Azerbaijan, 5.2 percent.4 acking nydirect utlet o theocean, theCaspianis linkedto the Black and Baltic Seas through heVolgaRiver nd a series fcanals and other ivers. he water eveloftheCaspianhas fluctu-ated n recent ecades but till ieswellbelow ea level.5 he sea contains pproximatelyiftyislands.6 n authority n Soviet nd Russian aw of the sea has observed hat n geologicalterms here s some doubtwhether heCaspian Sea has a physical ontinental helf. nstead,the areamaybe viewed s being only depression n the continental andmass.7The characteristics f the Caspian have prevented ts ready geological and legalclassification.thasalternativelyeen called a lake, n enclosed sea, a closed sea, an inlandsea, a sea, and, finally, unique body of water. 8 he labeling s significant ecause the

' Proven reserves n the Caspian Basin are 15.31 billion barrelsof oil, or 2.7% ofworld reserves. t is alsoestimated o containsome 230-360 trillion ubic feet of gas, or 7% of world reserves. stimates f possiblepetroleumreserves ary rom s few s 20 billion to as many s 200 billion barrels f oil. See The hangingfacefenergyeopolitics,ECD OBSERVER,June 22, 1999, at 48, available nLEXIS,NewsLibrary, urnws ile.2The Caspian Sea isapproximately ,204kilometersong and hasa surface rea of436,000squarekilometers.By comparison, hecombined area of thefiveGreatLakes inNorthAmerica s approximately 44,000squarekilometers.eeINTERNATIONALNERGYAGENCY,ASPIANOILAND GAs147 (1998) [hereinafterASPIANIL& GAS].' SeeRobertB. O'Connor,Jr., t al., Future il and Gas PotentialnSouthern aspianBasin,OIL & GAsJ.,May 3,1993,at 117, 117.4 SeeBriceM. Clagett,Ownershipf eabed nd Subsoil esourcesnthe aspianSea under heRules f nternationalLaw,CASPIANROSSROADSAG., ummer/Fall 995,at 3, 10.5SeeTHE NEWYoRKTiMEsATLAsFTHEWORLD, late 44 (9th rev. d. 1994) (giving igure f 28 meters elowsea level).6 See2 THE NEW NCYCLOPAEDIARITANNICA24 (15th ed. 1998).7See WilliamE. Butler,The ovietUnion nd theContinentalhelf;3AJIL103,106 (1969).'Some authoritativeonlegal ources haveused more than ne of the bove abels torefer o theCaspian Sea.The Encyclopaediaritannica,or xample,uses both inland ea and lake to refer o theCaspian. 2 THE NEWENCYCLOPAEDIABRITANNICA,upranote6,at923-24 (referringo theCaspianas the world's argestnland ea );7 id.at 107 (referringothe Caspian Sea as a lake in Asia).

179

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180 THE AMERICANJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALLAW [Vol. 94category etermineswhichbody of law applies to delimitation f the watersand theresources f the subsoil.9

LEGAL HISTORY OF THE CASPIANPRIOR TO 1991InternationalreatiesOne ofthemainobjectivesftsarist ussia n thebeginning fthenineteenth entury astoexpand ts erritoryouthward.n the Caucasus this outhwardrive rovoked series fwars etweenRussia ndthedeclining ingdom fPersia now ran).Persia'sdefeatn thesewars esultednthe conclusion ftwo reaties, hich,n addition o fixing heRusso-Persianland borders, egulatedhipping ightsn the Caspian.10 he first fthese reaties,he Gole-stanTreaty f 1813,barred ran from eployingtsnavalforces n theCaspian. 'The Turk-menchaiTreaty, oncluded n 1828,reiterated hese imitationsn Persiannaval hipping.2The legal regimeregarding he Caspian remainedunchanged until after heRussianRevolution f 1917.The 1921 Treaty f Friendship etween ran and Russia abrogated llprior reaties nd restored ranian shipping ightsn theCaspian.13 Under theTreaty fEstablishment, ommerce nd Navigation oncludedby he two tates nAugust 5, 1935,each party reserv[ed] ovessels lyingtsownflag he right o fish n itscoastalwaters pto a limit f ten nauticalmiles. 14heyreaffirmedhe10-mile ishingone in theTreaty fCommerce and Navigation f March 25, 1940.1' Beyond the 10-mile one, fishingwasallowed only o Soviet nd Iranian nationals.'6 he Treatywas silenton seabed mining.'7Significantly,heTreaty nd the notes attachedto it contained severalreferences o theCaspian as a Soviet-Iranianea. 18A morerecentcomprehensive oundary reaty,on-gProfessor xman has argued that, lthough he classifications significant,t mustnot dictatewhichof thedifferentegal regimes hat hould apply o Caspian water, ubsoilresources, ishing ights, hipping ights,ndso forth. eeBernardOxman,Caspian ea o0 ake: WatDifferenceDoesItMake?CAsPIANROSSROADSMAG.,Winter1996, at 1.10Treatyof Peace and Perpetual Friendship,Oct. 12, 1813, Persia-Russ., 2 Consol. TS 435 (in French)[hereinafter olestanTreaty]; reaty fPeace and Friendship, eb. 10 (22), 1828,Persia-Russ.,8Consol.TS 105(in French) [hereinafterurkmenchai reaty]. or thePersian exts, eeMINISTRYOFFOREIGNAFFAIRS, AJMUEHMOAHEDAT-E O JANEBEH-ERAN BA SAYER-E ESHVARHAA Compilationof BilateralTreatiesbetween ran andForeignCountries] 1971), citedn Mohamad Reza Dabiri,Rezhim-eogugy-eaiya-e hzar eonvanmabnaii aiay-esolh a ose-ehThe Legal Regimeof heCaspian Sea:ABasisfor eace and Development],MAJALLEH-E OTALEAT-E ASYAY-E ARKAZIVA AVGAZ ournal fCentralAsian nd CaucasianStudies] hereinafterAJALLEH],ummer1994, at 1,3 (published bythe ranianMinistryf ForeignAffairs).'l GolestanTreaty, upranote 10,Art. , quotedn Dabiri,supranote 10,at 3.12Turkmenchai reaty,upranote 10,Art. , quotednDabiri,supranote 10, at 4.13 reaty f Friendship, eb. 26, 1921, Persia-Russ. FSR,9 LNTS 383. Article 1 stated:

As Article of thepresent reaty brogates he treatyigned bythe high contracting arties n February1828, ncludingArticle of that reaty, hichdeprived ran ofmaintaining navalforce n the Caspian Sea,the high contracting arties herebydeclare that henceforth othpartieswill have equal rights o freeshipping nder their wnflagsn the Caspian Sea.QuotednDabiri, supranote 10, at 5 (trans. rom ersianby uthor).

14Treaty f Establishment,ommerce and Navigation,with inal Protocols nd Annex,Aug. 25, 1935, Iran-USSR,Art.15,176 LNTS 301,317. Article 4 stated:The Contracting arties gree that,n conformityith he principles et forthn the Treaty f February26th, 921,between heRussian ocialist ederal SovietRepublic ndPersia, here hall, hroughout he reaofthe Caspian Sea, be onlyvesselsbelonging to theUnion of SovietSocialistRepublics or to Iranand tonationals r commercial nd transport rganisationsfone ofthe twoContractingarties, lyingheflag fthe Union of Soviet ocialistRepublics or that f ran, respectively.

TreatyfCommerceand Navigation,Mar.25,1940,Iran-USSR, 44BRIT. & FOREIGNST. PAPERS419 (1940-42); seeWILLIAM. BUTLER,THESOVIETUNIONAND HELAWOF THE SEA 102 (1971).16 SeeBUTLER,supranote 15, at 102.17SeeJamshid omtaz,Vaziyyat-ehoghugi-eaiyay-eKhazarThe Legal Situationif heCaspian Sea], MAJALLEH,Summer1995,at 123, 127.18 SeeDabiri, upranote 10,at 7. The reference othe CaspianSea as a Soviet-Iranianea was also used inthenotes attached o the 1935Treaty, upranote 14,176 LNTS at 329.



2000] CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS 181cluded in 1954, determines he and borderbetween he two ides without elimitinghesea boundary cross theCaspian.Municipal aw and State ractice

Sovietjurists iewed he egalregime f theCaspianas that f a closedsea.20 he Russo-Soviet octrine ftheclosed sea ishighly ontroversialndaims t imiting ommercial ndmilitaryctivitiesn certain odiesofwater o nationals f ittoraltates.2'n addition o theCaspian, the Black and Baltic Seas werealso usuallydeclared to be closed seas bytheSoviets.22hisdesignation, specially s it pplied to the atter wo eas,wascontested y heWestern owers,which uccessfullyarredtsnclusion n thedraft 958 GenevaConventionon theHighSeas.23In the case of the Caspian,however,ran's municipal aw alsorecognized he Caspianasa closed sea. The IranianLaw on the Exploration nd Exploitation f the ContinentalShelf,dated May 19, 1949, effectivelysserted national urisdictionover the naturalresources fthe eabed and subsoil fthecontinental helfnthePersianGulf nd the GulfofOman. The law, however,was silenton the Caspian Sea.24Sixyears ater, note wasadded to Article of the awthat ead n its ntirety:Asregards he Caspian Sea, therulesof nternationalaw relating oclosedseas are applicable. 25In light f the contestednature f the doctrine f closed seas,however, he ntent f theIranian egislature emainsunclear.6 It isnoteworthyhat he awmakers ecognized hatthe terms f the Soviet-Iranian reaty f 1940 did not applyto the delimitation f thecontinental helf and subsoil resources of the Caspian. Thus, the legislationneithermentioned he 1940Treaty orappliedtheshared-use/ownershiprinciple.GivenSoviettechnological uperiorityntheexploration nd exploitation f ubsoilresources, ne caneasily nderstand ran's reluctance o share he Caspian with tsnorthern eighbor.In 1949 the SovietUnion started o exploit he Caspian hydrocarbonesources ffshore.The operationswerecentered nwhat snow thecoastalregionofAzerbaijan.27efore he

19Agreement oncerning he Settlement f Frontier nd Financial Questions,Dec. 2, 1954, ran-USSR, 51UNTS 250.20 SeeBUTLER, upranote 15, at 125.21 See d. at 116-33.22 See d. t 125. For a discussion f the closed-seadoctrine s applied to theBlackSea, seeJosephJ.Darby,TheSovietDoctrinef he losed ea, 23 SANDIEGOL. REv.685 (1986). Since the Caspian, unlike the Black Sea and theBalticSea, is not directly onnectedto the ocean, the Soviet lassificationf the Caspian as a closed sea didnotgiverise to oppositionbyoutside powers.23Atthe 1958 United NationsConference n the Law of the Sea, Romania and the Ukrainian ovietSocialistRepublic proposed an addition to Article of theConvention n the High Seas providing hat for ertain easa special regime fnavigationmay e established orhistorical easonsorbyvirtue f nternationalgreements.The United States, he United Kingdom, nd others rgued against he proposal on the grounds hat twas anopeningwedgefor closed eas. SeeGARYKNIGHT& HUNGDAH CHIU, THE INTERNATIONAL AWOFTHE SEA:CASES,DOCUMENTS, AND READINGS325-26 (1991).24SeeCHARLESG.MAcDoNALD, IRAN, AUDI ARABIA,AND THE LAW OF THE SEA 160 (1980).25 oi relative l'exploration ta l'exploitation u FalatGharreh Plateau ontinental e l'Iran),June 9, 1955,Art. note, AWSAND REGULATIONS N THE REGIMEOF THE TERRITORIAL EA 24, UN Doc. ST/LEG/SER.B/6,UNSales No. 1957.V.2 1957).The official rench ext f he aw, rovided y he ranianMission otheUnitedNations,translatesclosed eas s lesmersfermees.he original ersian eadsda?yay-easteh,iterallyclosed ea. SeeMohamadReza Dabiri,Rezhime-eoghugi-ea?yay-ehazar: meli aray-eavazonmanafeha tavazon mniyatThe Caspian'sLegalRegime: Balancing National nterests nd National Security],MAJALLEH,ummer 1995, at 141, 144. The onlypublished nglish ext f he aw,however,enders herelevanthrase s inland ea, withoutpecifyinghe ourceof thetranslation.ee1 NEW IRECTIONS N THE LAW FTHE EA S. HoustonLayet al. eds., 1973).26The Iranian awmakers ereprobably eferringo thedoctrine f mare lausum. hat doctrine, owever, asnever ound nternationalcceptance, nd during he 19th nd 20th enturies treceived nly assingnoticefromWesternurists. eeBUTLER, upranote 15,at 116.According o the thendeputy irector f the ranianForeignMinistry'snstitute fPolitical nd International tudies, he egislativententwas odistinguishheCaspian egalregimefrom hose of otherbodies ofwater.Dabiri, supranote 10, at 7.27SeeMomtaz, upranote 17,at 129. Commercialoil production nAzerbaijan goesbackto the 19thcentury.Russian nnual crude oil production romAzerbaijani ields ose from 00,000 barrels n 1874 to 10.8 million n1884. SeeDANIEL YERGIN,THE PRIZE: THE EPIC QUEST FOR OIL, MONEYAND POWER 57 (1991).



182 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF INTERNATIONALLAW [Vol.94SovietUnion switched tsexploration nd exploitation ffortso Siberia n the 1960s, hefields ffAzerbaijanwere tsmostproductive.28here is no evidencethat he SovietUnionever consulted ran on its Caspian oil operations.29ranian commentators oint out thatIran acquiesced in theseunilateral oviet ctions,which n the ranian viewbreached thecommon ea principle f the 1940Treaty, ut of reluctance o antagonize ts powerfulnorthern eighbor y odging diplomatic rotest.30As willbe discussed elow,post-SovietRussia nd slamic ranhaveboth upported heposition hat he common ea principle asalways overned heCaspian.The practices f the ittoraltates, owever, eaken his laim.

THE POSITIONS OFTHE LITToRALSTATES,1991-1999Iran

The Iranian rgumentsmay e summarized s follows. ecause of tsunique geographicalcharacteristics,hich istinguishheCaspianfromimilar odies ofwater,he nternationallawof the ea is not applicable to t.31nstead,until hefive ittoral tatesjointlyevise newlegal regimefor he sea, the Soviet-Iranian reatiesof 1921 and 1940mustgovern.2Thesilenceofthese Treatieson mining ightsmustbe seen in the ight f the nadequacyofoffshoremining echnologyt thetime.33he intent ftheparties, owever,oown ndusetheCaspian on a sharedbasiscan readilybe seen from he repeated referencesn theTreaties o the Caspian as a Soviet-Iranianea. 34The Iranianpositionmaybestbe understood y nalyticallyeparating wodistinctssues.The firstssue s,How should the ittoral tates pproachthetask fmineral xploitationnthe Caspian beforehe legal regimeof the sea has been determined?35ere, Iraniansemphasize that the littoral tates must agree upon a temporaryminerals regime byconsensus.36hus,even fthese tates aterdecide not to sharethe mineral esources ftheCaspian nd instead ivide he ea amongthemselves,heyhould llagree nthemeantimeon any plans to exploreand exploitthose resources.37 he second issue is the Iranianargument hat, iven heunique geographicalnd ecological onditions ftheCaspian, hemost ensibleegal regimesonebased on theprinciple f condominium r res ommunis.38Economic,political, ndgeographical ealities nderlie ran'sopposition odividingheCaspianseabed resources mongthe ittoral tates n a sectoral asis.Economically,ran snot in a positionto divert tsscarceresources o oil exploration nd production n the

28 See Michael P. Croissant& CynthiaM. Croissant,The CaspianSea StatusDispute:Azerbaijani erspectives,CAUCASLAN EGIONAL STUD., No. 1, 1998 (visitedMar. 7, 1999).29 SeeMomtaz, upranote 17, at 129.30 See d.31 SeeDabiri, suprraote 25, at 142.32 See tatement ftheForeignMinistryf the slamicRepublic of ranontheresults ftheKazakhstan-Russianconsultations eflectedn thestatement ated 13 February 998 of theKazakhstan oreign Ministry,N Doc.A/52/913, annex (1998).3 SeeM. S. Nourian,Negareshhay-eotafavetarbarey-eezhim-eogugy-ea?yay-ehazar Alternative iewpoints ntheCaspian's Legal Regime],MAJALLEH, ummer 1996, at 105, 111 (the authorwas then the director f theIranian ForeignMinistry's epartment f Boundaries).34 See d. at 112.

In its arly osition n this ssue setout n 1993 n a draft reaty,ran proposed that he Caspian Sea be ointlyused andmanaged bythe ittoral tates, nd that articipation ythird tates equiretheprior onsentof all thelittoraltates. he legalstatus fthe ea was eft o be determinedater. ee ergeiVinogradov& PatriciaWouters,TheCaspianSea: Questfor Nezv egalRegime, LEIDENJ. INT'L L. 87, 94 (1996).36 SeeNourian, upia note 33, at 106.3 See d.38The firstranianofficial o apply he concept ofcondominium o the Caspian wasMohamad Reza Dabiri. SeeDabiri, supra note 10, at 17 (using the Persian termHakemiiatMosha,which he translates n a footnote asCondouminium r ResCommunis ).



2000] CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS 183Caspian.39ranianpoliticianswho support oreign articipationnenergy rojectsnotonlyare hampered y onservativeomestic olitical orces, ut lso must vercome oreignegalobstacles o uchventures.40 oreover,ranappreciates hegeological act hatwhatever ilreserves t mayhave in the southernCaspianwould be situated n some of the deepest,hence mostdifficulto mine, reas ofthe ea.4'Finally, hetwin rinciples f ondominiumand consensus nable Iran to oppose thepresence ofWestern owers n theCaspian.42Azerbaijan's damantrefusal o accept shared wnership nd Russia's hifting ositionvis-a-visheprinciple f ondominium solated ran amongthe ittoraltates.43nSeptember1998, ran officiallynnounced ts cceptanceof the principle f sectoraldivision, n thecondition hat singledivision cheme be appliedto boththe waters nd the seabed .4 Inaddition, ranhas argued that uch a divisionmustbe equal (i.e., that ach littoraltate'sshare mustbe 20 percent f the waters nd theseabed) 5AzerbaijanAzerbaijan'sposition n theCaspian egalregimemay e summarized s follows. ivisionof the sea among the littoral tates s supportedby nternational racticeand rules ofinternational aw.46 he waters, s well as the seabed, mustbe dividedbymeans of anequidistant ine.47 he Soviet-Iranian reatiesof1921and 1940regulate nlynavigation,fishing, nd border-guard ractices nd are inapplicableto the mining egime.8Azerbai-janis alsoargue that he historyf tatepractice rior o 1991supports heir osition or hedivision f the Caspian into national ones.They pointout thatby1970 theSovietUnionhad divided heCaspian nto ranian nd Soviet ones bydrawing boundaryine across hesea betweenAstara and Husseingholi; t then further ividedthe Soviet sectoramongAzerbaij n, Russia,Kazakhstan, ndTurkmenia.49Azerbaijanislaim hat hisnter-republic

3 This point s readily cknowledgedby ranian officials. eeNourian, upranote 33, at 115.40 The U.S. Iran-Libya anctionsAct, Pub. L. No. 104-172,110 Stat. 1541 (1996), threatens eprisals gainstforeign irms hat nvestmore than$20 million year n thecountry's nergy ector.The legislationwill xpirein 2001.41 In the northern hird, he averagedepth of the Caspian is 6.2 meters;n the center, 76meters; nd in thesouth, 25 meters. eeCASPIANIL & GAs, upranote 2, at 147. For bothpolitical nd economicreasons, ranhastried o secure a share nAzerbaijan'soil projects.On Azerbaijan'sconsortium eal, see note54 infra.42 Seesupranote35.43 See the discussion elow on the Russian nd Azerbaijanipositions.44 SeeIran: Rozvhani allsfor Unanimous egal Regime or Caspian, ForeignBroadcast Information ervice

[hereinafter BIS], Doc. FBIS-NES-98-270 (Sept. 27, 1998) (statement fHassan Rowhani, ecretary ftheSupreme NationalSecurity ouncil, to RussianAmbassadorKonstantin huvalev).For the ranian nsistence na singledivision cheme, ee Iran: Maleki npolicy oward S, Caspian ssues, oc. FBIS-EAS-1999-0214 (Feb. 14,1999) (interview ith ranianDeputyForeignMinister bbas Maleki) [hereinafterhe date n theparentheticalto FBIS documentswill omit the year,which s reflected n the document number, nd subsequentcites topreviously eferenced BIS documentswillbe bydocumentnumber].41 SeeHossein K Ardabili,Rezhim-e ogugy-ehaza7; oseye-e anabeh a khotut-ene7zhi[The Caspian's LegalRegime:The Development fEnergyResources nd Pipelines],MAJALLEH,pring1998, at 45, 48 (the author san adviser o the ranianForeignAffairsnd Oil Ministries). ran's new positionregarding qual division f theCaspian may, n turn, e changing. n August 1998, Boris Pastukhov, he thendeputy oreignminister ftheRussianFederation, eported hat ranian negotiatorswere nsisting n Iran's 20% share. SeeAzerbaijan: ecentMovementn Caspian TalksAssessed, oc. FBIS-SOV-98-231 (Aug. 19). The latestpronouncements f Iranianofficials all only or n equitable and fair ivision.Doc. FBIS-EAS-1999-0214, supranote44 (statementfIraniandeputy oreignminister).46 SeeJointtatement nCaspianSea questions dopted byPresidents fAzerbaijan ndKazakhstannBaku on16 September1996,Art. , UN Doc. A/51/529, nnex (1996).47 SeeDoc. FBIS-SOV-98-231, supranote 45 (statement yAzerbaijani oreignminister).48 SeeRussia:Joint zeri-Russiantatementutlines alks n CaspianSea,Doc. FBIS-SOV-98-217 (Aug. 5).49 BothAzerbaijan nd Kazakhstan ave produced maps and documents howing hat uch a division, n fact,tookplace. Among these s an internal ocumentof the USSR Ministryf Oil Industry, ated 1970, thatdividedtheSovietpartof the Caspian among Azerbaijan,Kazakhstan, ussia, nd Turkmenistan on thecenter ine basisaccepted n nternational ractice. eeMikhailAlexandrov, ussian-Kazakh ontradictionsn the aspian ea LegalStatus, uss. & EURASiANULL., eb. 1998 (Contemporary urope Research Center,Universityf Melbourne)



184 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF INTERNATIONALLAW [Vol. 94divisionwasapprovedbyRussianPrimeMinister iktor hernomyrdinn 1993,twoyearsafter he breakupof theSoviet Union.50 urthermore,zerbaijani fficials ointout thatthe sovereignty f Azerbaijanover its portion of the Caspian is enshrined n its newconstitutionnd that he ssue of sharing he sea is thereforemoot.5Azerbaijan's insistenceon sovereignty ver its portion of the Caspian is based oneconomic,geographic, ndpolitical onsiderations.o beginwith,f he Caspian s divided,some of its argest il and gas reservoirs ould be situated n the Azerbaijanizone.52 naddition, hese reservoirs re in relativelyhallowportions f the Caspian, allowing asyoffshore rilling.53n contrasto ran,Azerbaijanhasplaced exploitation f theseoilfieldsat the top of its agenda. Azerbaijan believes that ackof clear titleoverthesereservoirsmakes he task f ttractingoreignnvestmentn ts nergy rojectsmore difficult.inally,as a fledgling .S. ally,Azerbaijandoes not wish o nvolveran n decidingwhenand howtodevelop tsCaspian resources.54he United Statesfully upportsAzerbaijan's egal andpolitical tanceon theCaspian.55

InAugust 998,Azerbaijan nnounced thatRussia, longtime upporter f theprincipleof haredownership ftheCaspian,had nowagreedto divide he seabedon thebasisof nequidistant ine.56n February f thatyear,Azerbaijan nd Turkmenistan ad arrived t avisited eb. 19,1999). These documents re atpresent hebasisofnegotiations etweenAzerbaijan nd Turkmenistan n howto divide heir ortion fthe ea.Azerbaijanclaims that this divisionmustfollowSovietpractice,while theTurkmenscontend thatthe Sovietinternaldocumentswere only dministrativeecisions and did not have the force of nternational oundarytreaties. eeAzerbaijan: zeri, urkmeneamsAgree Basic oints n CaspianSea,Doc. FBIS-SOV-98-040 (Feb. 9).(Turkmenistan's eported position, however, ppears to be at variancewith ts earlierposition calling forobservance of Soviet-era ivisions ntil the status f the sea is finally ettled. See Turkmenistan-BackgroundfCaspianDisputes, PS REV.OIL MARKETRENDS, Sept. 7, 1998, available n LEXIS,NewsLibrary, urnwsFile.)KhushbakhtYusefzadeh,n adviser oAzerbaijan's icepresident, asreliedonthe amedocuments o claimthatAzerbaijan's hare of heCaspian was 80,000 quare kilometers. he shares ftheother epublicswerereportedlyasfollows: ussia, 4,000 quarekilometers;urkmenia, 0,000 quare kilometers;nd Kazakhstan, 13,000 quarekilometers. ee Nourian, supranote 33, at 122. Vinogradov nd Wouters point out thattheSoviet MinistryfInternalAffairsnilaterallystablished delimitation ine that ontinued the and border betweenAstara ndHusseingholi n 1935, but that t has neverbeen recognized byIran as the Soviet-Iranian order. SergeiVinogradov & PatriciaWouters, The Caspian Sea: Current egal Problems,5 ZEITSCHRIFTURAUSLANDISCHESOFFENTLICHESRECHT UNDVOLKERRECHT604, 609 (1995).

50 SeeNourian, upranote33,at23.51Article11of heAzerbaijanConstitution eads n relevant art: The territoryf heAzerbaijanRepublic hallbe united, nviolable nd indivisible. he Azerbaijan epublic erritoryhall nclude theAzerbaijanRepublic nnerwaters,the Caspian Sea (Lake) sector relating o the Azerbaijan Republic, and space over the AzerbaijanRepublic. http://www.usia.gov/abtusia/posts/XA1wwwtc011.txt>visitedMar.7,1999). It snotclearwhetherAzerbaijanisnsist n total overeigntyver heir ortion f heCaspian. Sucha position, fcourse,would conflictwith he awof he ea,which recludesfull overeigntyeyond 12-mile erritorialea butwould allow overeignmining ightswithin heexclusive conomic zone.

52 Azerbaijan's ector f the Caspian is estimated o contain25 of the 32 known il and gas fields f the Sea aswellas 145 of the 386 prospectivetructures. roissant& Croissant, upranote 28.53 Id.54 In 1994,duringnegotiationsor n$8billiondeal withmainlyWesternil companies,Azerbaijan fferedrana 5% share n theconsortium. he United States trongly bjected to Iranian participation nd threatened opersuade the Western il companiesto abandon the project.Azerbaijan eventually elented and substitutedTurkey or ran.The movepredictably rovoked trong ranianopposition o thedeal. SeeVinogradov Wouters,supranote 35,at 88.55 GlenRase,the StateDepartment's irector f nternational nergy olicy, tated hat,

[t] my nowledge, obody fwater ike heCaspian s treatedscondominiumstheRussians refer... Themorenormal oursewith odiesofwater hat allon internationaloundafies .. wouldbe to have inesofdivisions or conomicpurposes n the eabedtocreate xclusive conomic ones.That trikes s as a perfectlyreasonableway ogo forwardnd that ertainlyeems to be what heKazakhs, zeris nd Turkmens esire.

TerryManzi, nterviewith len ase, ASPIAN ROSSROADSMAG.,Winter 995 http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/usazerb/ .htm> (visited ept. 18, 1999) Azerbaijani fficials ave repeatedly tated hat heUnitedStates upports heir osition. eeDoc. FBIS-SOV-98-23 1, upranote 5 (statement f tateCounselorfor oreignPolicyVafaGuluzade).56 Azerbaijan:Azerbaijan'sAliyev nDisagreementithRussia on Caspian, Doc. FBIS-SOV-98-217 (Aug. 5)(statementfHeydarAliyev,resident fAzerbaijan, o nterfax ews gency).This understanding as onfirmedina Russian-Azerbaijanijointtatement aterthatmonth. eeDoc. FBIS-SOV-98-231, supranote 45.



2000] CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS 185general understanding n the division f the seabed according to an equidistant ine.57These two tatesdiffered, owever, n howtheequidistantine should be drawn.58 heyhave also clashed over the ownership f twofields n theCaspian.Russia

The Russian positionon the miningregime n the Caspian Sea reflects he constanttension etween heForeignMinistry,n theonehand, nd theMinistryfFuel andPower,allied withpowerful il companiessuchas Lukoil,on the other.YakovPappe, a Russianexpert, escribed hecompanies'views s follows:The oil people do not supportany attemptsby Russia to pressure ts Southernneighbors, n particular eclaring he formerslamicrepublics f the USSR a zone ofRussia's special interest. hey do not support t because theydon't believe in theeffectivenessf such measures.For them t is important o have the possibility fexpansion now,whilenot everythingas yetbeen divided.Thatis why he oil peoplewant orespect henational spirations f othernew ndependent tates,while t thesame timeexpectingthatthese stateswould decide to make maximumuse of thescientific,echnological, umanpotential till ossessedbyRussia.60

The first igns fa riftn the Russiangovernmentmerged n 1994. n April f thatyear,whilethe Azerbaijanigovernmentwas negotiating n $8 billion deal to develop its oilresources n theCaspianwith mainlyWestern onsortium,heRussianMinistryfForeignAffairseactedby ending noteto theBritish mbassyn Moscow.The letter tated n part:Any teps ywhichever aspian tate imed at acquiring nykind f dvantageswith egardto the reas and resources .. cannotbe recognised .. [and] ... anyunilateral ctions redevoidofa legal basis.6'The ForeignMinistry'sonebecamemorethreateningna lettersubmitted o theUN Secretary-Generalater hatyear,which tated hatRussiawould takeallnecessarymeasures orestore he egalorderof theCaspian, nd that heresponsibilityfor ny dverse onsequences, ncluding majormaterial amage, restedwith hosewhoresorted ounilateral ctions n disregard f nternationalgreements.62The earlyRussianposition tated n the above letter o the UnitedNations nd in otherdocumentsmaybe summarized s follows. he Caspian Sea wasa landlockedbodyofwaterand thusthe normsof the internationalawof thesea, including he territorialea, theexclusive conomiczone, and thecontinental helf,were not applicableto it.The legalregime ftheCaspian wasstillgovernedby the Soviet-Iranian reatiesof 1921 and 1940,whichprovided orjoint tilization. ll thecoastal tateswereboundby hese greements,

57 SeeDoc. FBIS-SOV-98-040, supranote 49 (statementf ElbarsKepbanov,deputy oreignministerfTurk-menistan, oAzerbaijan'sTuran news gency).58 Some reportshave ndicatedthatTurkmenistan avorsn equidistantinedelineatedwithout akingnletsor slands ntoconsideration, hileAzerbaijanwould nclude them n ts alculations. eeAzerbaijan-Turkmenistan,PLATT's OILGRAMEWS,Apr. 1,1998, available nLEXIS, NewsLibrary, urnws ile.59One ofthefields, alledSerdar-byheTurkmens ndKyapaz y heAzerbaijanis, eems to ie,at eastpartially,intheTurkmen ector. nAugust 997,followingtrong rotests yTurkmenistannd apparendynrecognitionof hevalidity f heTurkmen laims,Russian resident orisYeltsinanceled anagreement etweenRosneft ndLukoil to develop the field withAzerbaijan. The deal was reportedlyworth$1 billion. SeeAzerbaijanwantsclarificationnCaspian,J. CoM.,Aug. 28, 1997,at 12A.Later thatyear,Turkmenistan ppealed to the UnitedNationsfor ssistancensetding he dispute.SeeAlexandrov, upranote49.60Yuriedorov,Russia sPoliciesozvardaspianRegion il:Neo-ImperialrPragmatic?nPERSPECTIVESNCENTRALASIA,Oct. 1996 (Center forPost-SovietStudies, Carnegie Corp. of NY) (quoting YakovPappe) visited ec. 28, 1999).61Andrew eeketal.,Azerbaijan: ediscoveringltsilPotential?AegalPerspective,3J.ENERGY& AT.RESOURCESL. 147, 157 (1995) (quoting FIN.TIMES London), May31, 1994, at 2).62 Letterdated 5 October 1994from hePermanentRepresentative fthe RussianFederation o the UnitedNationsAddressed o theSecretary-GeneralPositionofRussianFederationregarding he egal regimeof theCaspian Sea), UN Doc. A/49/475 (1994), reprintedn 10 INTERNATIONAL RGANIZATIONSAND HELAwOFTHE SEA:DOCUMENTARYYEARBOOK994,at 195, 196 [hereinafter ussian1994Letter].



186 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF INTERNATIONAL LAW [Vol. 94not onlybecause as successor tates hey ad inherited hetreaty bligations f theformerunitarytate, utalso because allfive f themhad signedthe AlmaAtaDeclaration o thesame effectn 1991.63 yvirtue ftheemergenceof threenew ittoral tates, heCaspianlegal regimemustbe updated. n the meantime, owever, nyutilization f the Caspian'swater nd subsoil resourcesthat affected heother parties' nterestsmustbe subjecttoagreement y ll thecoastalstates.64Azerbaijan, the clear targetof Russia's ire, had already begun trying o appease itspowerful orthern eighbor,while lso stressingtsright odevelop tsCaspian resources.Althoughthe initial round of Azerbaijaninegotiationswith the consortiumhad notincluded Russia,65twas broughtn early n 1994. n March of thatyear,Lukoil wasgivena 10percent hare nthe onsortium.66naddition, zerbaijan wardedLukoilmulti-billion-dollar contractsn 1995and 1996.67Russia herefore ound tselfnan ironicposition y arly 994:while tsForeignMinistrywascallingAzerbaijani iloperationsntheCaspian llegal nd threateningo disrupt hemforcibly,ts Ministry f Fuel and Power-allied withLukoil and other powerfuloilcompanies-was preparing o assistAzerbaijan n thesameprojects.68he oil lobby coreda majorvictoryn November 994,when PrimeMinister hernomyrdin,he former eadof Gazprom,met PresidentAliyev n Moscow and reaffirmed is acceptance of theconsortium eal.69Two years ater, n November1996,the RussianForeignMinistryoftened ts tancebyproposing hybrid lan that ombinedAzerbaijan's osition, alling ornational ectorsntheCaspian, with ran's and Russia's positionsn support fshareduse and ownership.70The compromise,owhich ll thecoastal tates xceptAzerbaijan ubscribed, rovided ornational overeigntyverthemineral esourceswithin orty-fiveilesof each state's oast,with hemiddle reatobe left orjoint evelopment.' TheForeignMinistry,owever,nceagainhad to witness heunderminingf tsposition romwithinhegovernment hen, nAugust 997,Russia'sMinistryfNaturalResources warded tender o Lukoilto developa field n the northern aspian.72 he field tretchedofarbeyond heforty-five-mileonethatKazakhstanodged protest ithMoscow, laimingt ncroached nKazakh erritory.3

63AlmaAta Declaration,Dec. 21, 1991, 31 ILM 148 (1992).64 SeeRussian1994Letter, upranote62,at 195-96; andAlexandrov, upranote49.65 These talkswere conducted n 1993 in London. SeeFedorov, upranote 60.66 Lukoil's share came out of thatof the Azerbaijani national oil company nd did not reduce the Western

consortium's nterest. ee eek et al., supranote 61, at 157.67 For details, ee Fedorov, upranote 60.68The tension etween heForeign nd Fuel and PowerMinistriesurfaced n a conference n the egal statusof theCaspian that ookplace inMoscow nOctober1995.The director f theLegal Department ftheRussianForeign Ministrytated he standardpositionof hisministry,dding veiled criticism f Azerbaijan'sunilateralactionsntheCaspian.The vicepresident fLukoilrespondedby mphasizing he conomic and political enefitsofcooperationbetweenRussian ndAzerbaijani ilmen, nd went n tosay: Lukoil] knowshow to extract iland how to do it n the bestpossibleway,while heForeignMinistry'smployeesknowhow to deal with oliticalproblems.Therefore, veryone s concernedwith is own business. Thus, the claim of Russia'sdeputyministerofforeign ffairs,ho statednthe ame conference hat herewere no differencesfprinciplentheapproachto theCaspian problem etween hetwoministries,oes not eemveryredible.For a report n theconference,see LevKlepatsky Valery ospelov,Manoeuzring ound heCaspianSea,10 NT'L AFF. 9 (Moscow 1995).69 SeeRobertV.Barylski, ussia, heWest,nd the aspianEnergy ub,49MIDDLE .J. 217, 224 (1995). Barylskidescribes hebehind-the-scenestruggle etween heForeignMinistryndtherepresentativesftheoil interests

in the Russiangovernment, otingChernomyrdin's efusal o adopta hard-line olicy. d. at223.70 SeeAzerbaijan: aspianSea Status oBeDiscussednRussian-Aze;Talks, oc. FBIS-SOV-98-209 (July 8).71 Id. Russia lso signaled tswillingness o accept othercoastal states' spotjurisdiction ver oil sitesoutsidethe45-mile one if ertain riteriaweremet, nd if he iteswerealreadybeing,orwere abouttobe, developed.This stipulation eemed to recognize the nterests f Lukoil and otherRussianoil companies thatwere partnersin theseprojects. eeAlexandrov, upranote49.72 SeeAlexandrov,uplanote 49.73See SyedRashidAli,Russia/Kazakhstanaspian greement,ETROLEUM TIMES ENERGYREP., Feb. 1998,at 6,available nLEXIS, NewsLibrary, urnws ile.



2000] CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS 187Finally,nFebruary 998,Russia reversed ts ong-held osition on theCaspian regimeand, nwhatmaybe considered hefinal ictoryfthe oil interests ithin hegovernment,declared that t now upported he sectoraldivision f the entireCaspianseabed.74 nJuly

6, 1998,Russia nd Kazakhstan ivided he northern ortion f the seabedbetween hem-selves ccording o an equidistant ine.75 he agreement oncernedonly he seabed, how-ever, ince Russia nsisted hat he Caspian waters hould be commonproperty.6Kazakhstannd Turkmenistan

Kazakhstanhas arguedthat he egal regime fthe Caspian mustbe determined ytheUnitedNationsConvention n theLawof theSea.77Accordingly,azakhstan upports heestablishmenthere f nternal nd territorial aters nd an exclusive conomiczone.78nOctober1993,Turkmenistanecame the first aspian coastal state o passa law declaringitsjurisdictionvera 12-mile erritorialea and a maritime conomic zone. 79 urkmeni-stanhas also reached a basicunderstanding ithAzerbaijan nd a purported greementwithKazakhstan n sectoral ivision fthe ea.80 lthoughKazakhstan, urkmenistan,ndAzerbaijannow gree on theprinciple f quidistant-lineivision ftheCaspian, hey ifferamongthemselvess tohowthe ineshouldbedrawn.As ofDecember31,1999,nodefiniteagreement n thispoint had been reached.

74 SeeAzeibaijan: aku Encoutaged yNewv ussianP?oposalsnCaspian,Doc. FBIS-SOV-98-041 (Feb. 10).75 SeeRussia arnd azakhstan hareCaspian poils, BC Online Network, uly , 1998 (visited eb. 29, 1999).76 See d. n ajoint statement igned byAzerbaijan and Russia n August1998, the two sides agreed that heseabed shouldbe divided nto sector-zones long an equidistantinemodified n thebasis of the principles ffairness nd the agreement f the parties. Doc. FBIS-SOV-98-231, supranote 45. Russiajustifiestsoppositionto division fwaters fthe Caspian by rguing hat twould violate he ecological ntegrityfthe ea, but Russia'sunderlyingoncern s obviouslyhat uch a divisionwould deprive tofa vetoover the direction fproposedunderwater ipelines.Russia laims hat hebestpipeline route soverland hroughts erritoryince underwaterpipelines are ecologically nsafe. nterestingly,tsoppositionto underwater ipelines does not extend to thoseundertheBlackSea,whereRussia upports uilding gas pipelinefrom ts erritoryoTurkey. he deputy oreignminister as explained this iscrepancy ynoting hat,while heCaspian s earthquake rone, heBlackSea is not.See Russia 7war-nsf bandztty f Caspianstatus s unresolved,BC Online Network,Mar. 27, 1998 visited eb. 19, 1999). In response o ran's objections,Russiahas stated hat heRussian-Kazakh

agreement does not create a specialstatus or he northern artof theCaspian Sea, neitherdoes itcontradicttheSoviet-Iranianreaties f1921 and 1940. SeeRussia: pokesmannRussia, ranDividingBedfCaspian ea,Doc.FBIS-SOV-98-202 (July 1) (statement fVladimirRakhmanin,RussianForeignMinistrypokesman, o ITAR-TASS). The fate of the Russian-Kazakh greement s stillunclear since the Duma has not ratified t. AndranikMigranyan, memberof the RussianFederation'sPresidential ouncil, said in November 1998 that he Dumawouldprobably eject he greement.GeorgiiTikhonov, hechairman f heDuma's Energy ommittee, as alsosaid that heDumawould consult ll the ittoral tates, specially ran,beforedebating n thedeal. See ran:Doubtsover ussianDumaApproval fCaspianAg-eement,oc. FBIS-NES-98-311 (Nov. 7).77SeeAlexandrov, upranote 49.78 SeeVinogradov& Wouters, upranote35,at 95.79Lawon the StateBorder,Oct. 1, 1993,Art. , citedn d. at92-93.80 On theAzerbaijani-Turkmennderstandingn basicpoints n theCaspian, ee Doc. FBIS-SOV-98-040,supranote49. The Kazakh-Turkmengreement f March1997 stated hat all countries ordering heCaspian

Sea must tandby heprinciple fdividing hewater rea out toa middle ineuntil heCaspianSea's legalstatusis determined. eeCroissant Croissant,upranote28, at10 (quoting greement ignedby hepresidents fthetwo tates).81The UnitedStateshas attempted o expeditethesenegotiations y ubmitting roposals o both ides on howto draw a median line. RichardMorningstar, efore eavinghispost as special adviser to the president ndsecretaryf tate orCaspianBasinenergy, eported hat he U.S. expertshad submitted scientificmethod totheAzerbaijani nd Turkmen arties hatwill llow bothparties o reach a mutually cceptable agreement. Heexpressedthehope that thepartieswould be able to reach an agreement within fewmonths. LISEnvoy'sCommentsn Azeti-Turkmenisputteeported,oc. FBIS-SOV-1999-0624 (June 24).



188 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF INTERNATIONALLAW [Vol. 94THE CASPIAN MINING REGIME ANDINTERNATIONAL LAW

The dispute over whether he Caspian should be divided or shared has been largelysettled etween he ittoraltates hroughmultiple ilateral greements.82he chances thata courtwould ever rule on the legal statusof the Caspian seabed are therefore lim.However, ne mayarrive t a suggestion f what such an opinion mightbe by criticallyexamining heconceptof condominium hampionedby ran and Russiauntilrecently.First, here are few xamples of shared ownership f seabed resourcesn internationalcase law and statepractice.As Professor xman pointsout: The realitys thatmost akesand semi-enclosed easborderedbymorethanone statehave been partitioned.... Thosearguing or ondominium ear a substantial urden.... Withrespect ohydrocarbonndmineral eposits, artition... issupported yoverwhelmingtatepractice. 83imilarly,J.H. W.Verzijlhas noted that xamplesof commonownership f akes and inland seas donot to myknowledge ctually xist. 84The only case in whicha court has held in favorof the principleof condominiumconcerns he Gulfof Fonseca. Situated n thePacificOcean, thegulf s surrounded yElSalvador,Honduras,and Nicaragua.Prior to 1821,all three countrieswerepartof theSpanish Empire.SimilarlyothedisputeovertheCaspian,theGulf f onsecacase involvedstate uccession nd rival laimsto a bodyof water hat roseonly fter hebreakupof anempire.85 chamberof the International ourt ofJustice ound thatthe threeriparianstateswere each entitled o a three-miletrip ff heir oast,but thatbeyond his imit hewaters f thegulf ppertained o them ll. 6Important actors, owever, istinguishhequestionoftheGulf fFonseca from hat ftheCaspian.For one thing, nliketheCaspian,thegulfbelongedto a single tatebeforeitsdissolution.n addition, he uccessor tatesntheGulf fFonseca ase,unlike hose nthecase of theCaspian,had treated hebodyof water s commonproperty or n extendedperiodoftime. inally,s BriceClagett oints ut, he CJ,whichwasmainlyoncernedwiththe issueofnavigation, ealized thatdivision fthe Gulfof Fonseca wouldhavecreatedinsurmountable ifficultiesy eaving t eastone of thestateswithno deepwater utlet othesea. No suchdifficulty,nsofar s division f the seabed isconcerned, haracterizeshe87Caspiancase.7 In fact, ne may rguethatdivision fthe seabed maybe the bestway oavoid thecomplicationshatusually rise n shared-use/ownershiprrangements.The history f the ittoral tates'practice n the Caspianfurther eakens heargumentthat t sthe commonpropertyf those tates.As mentioned bove,beginningn 1949 theSovietUnion engaged in intensive il operations n theCaspianwithout cquiringtheconsentof ts outhernneighbor.Fear of thepolitical omplications fraising bjectionsto theseoperationsdid notpreventran frompublicly nd privatelyiring tsconcernsabout theoilpollutionntheCaspiancausedby oviet ffshorerilling.88nargumentmay

82 These agreementsnclude the one signed by Russia and KazakhstannJuly 998, supranote 75, and theTurkmenistan-Kazakhgreement f March 1997,supranote 80. See also sup-anote 57 for he basic Azerbaijani-Turkmenunderstandingn division f the seabed.83 Oxman, supia note 9, at 6, 12.84 3J.H. W.VERZIJL, NTERNATIONAL AW NHISTORICALPERSPECTIVE19 (1970), quotedn Clagett, upra note

4,at 6.85 SeeRodman R. Bundy,Janbehayeogugy-eefazatz mohit-eist-ea?yay-ehaza?;MAJALLEH,ummer1996,at138, translatedrom egalAspects f -otectinghlenvironmentf hle aspian Sea,5 REV.EUR. COMMUNITY INT'LENVTL. . 122 (1996).86 Land, Island and Maritime rontier ispute (El Sal./Hond.: Nicar. intervening), 992 ICJREP.351 (Sept.11), cited nOxman,supf-aote9, at 6.87 Clagett, upranote4,at7.88 It is estimated thatup to 10% of Soviet offshore rillingproductionin the Caspian (approximately300,000-400,000tons ofoil) escaped into the sea each year. n 1968 theUSSR Council of Ministersdopted a



2000] CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS 189therefore e made that ran's forty-year-longilenceregarding ovietoil operationsnowpreventst from aising bjections o similar perationsbythe successor tates.

CONCLUSIONThe contest vermining ights n the Caspian is largely ver.All the ittoral tatesnowfavor ectoraldivision f theseabed. The dispute has therefore hifted romwhetherheseabed should be dividedtohowthatdivisionmight e accomplished.89 s thisdiscussionhas llustrated,ran and Russia,which upported he hared-use/ownershiprinciple ntheearly 990s,have now accepted theprinciple f sectoral ivision f the seabed not becausetheir pponents' egal arguments rovedto be compellingbut,rather, ecause forces fdomestic and international olitics eftthem with no other viable options. That is,supporters f condominiumostthebattlenot nthe courtroom ut n theboardroomofdomestic nd international olitics.If thepast of theCaspianis any guide to itsfuture, ne maypredict hat heemergingissuesof the technicalities f seabed division nd the fateof thewaterswillbe determinednot so muchby egal arguments sby he political nd geostrategic oncerns f the ittoralstates. hese concerns ange ngeneralfrom hefuturehapeofregional nd internationalalliancesto the ocation nd direction funderwaterand overland)oil and gas pipelines.Given he mportance ftheCaspianenergy eserves o theworld's conomy, replay f henineteenth-centurygreatgame 90-with ifferent layers nd some new rules-is not asurprisingpectacle t thedawnofthe thirdmillennium.KAMYARMEHDIYOUN*

decree that, nter lia, prohibited he operationofnewwells n the Caspian unless effective easureswere takento prevent ollution. eeBUTLER,up1anote 5, t 137-38. The oil pollutionnotonly ndangeredraremarine ife,but lso was carried o the outh nd southwesternhoresof heCaspian,where twashed p on beaches thatwereamong the favorite oliday resorts f Iranians. Iranian concern was mainlyresponsiblefor a Soviet-Iranianagreementon pollution control n theCaspian signed n 1971. SeeDavid Housego, Iran-Russia ction or leanerCaspian,TIMES London), Apr. 29, 1971, at 9.89The othercontentious ssue s the egal regimeof the Caspian waters. ran s the only oastalstate hathaslinked ts greement n the status fthe seabed to that fthe waters. ee upra ext t note44.90 ee, .g., ARLERNESTMEYER SHAREENLAIR RYSAC,OURNAMENTFSHADOwS:HE GREAT AME ND HERACE OR MPIREN CENTRALsIA 1999).*M.A., M.Phil., Columbia University; .D. candidate (2000), Boston College Law School . he authorwould ike to thank rofessor ans Baade ofthe UniversityfTexas atAustin choolof Law forhis helpful omments n the first raft f thispaper.

THE FIFTY-FIFTH ESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTSINTRODUCTION

The fifty-fifthession of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights took place inGeneva fromMarch 22 toApril 30, 1999, and was chaired byAmbassador Anne Anderson ofIreland. The Commission reviewed the state of human rights nd fundamental freedoms nthe world, adopting eighty-two esolutions,fifty-eighty consensus, and thirteendecisions. 1More than thirty-twoundred participants represented fifty-three ember and ninety-oneobserverstates,over two hundred nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and some fifty-five specialized agencies and other organizations.2 Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan under-

'The Report ftheCommission n HumanRights CHR] on itsfifty-fifthession,UN Doc. E/CN.4/1999/167[hereinafter eport], ontains he resolutionsnd decisions of the Commission.2 See d. at 394-406; Statistics elating o fifty-fifthession of the Commissionon Human Rights,UN Doc.E/CN.4/2000/8 (1999).


ownership of oil and gas resources in the caspian sea

Documents

gas resources

gas deposits n

caspian seaownership

caspian seaintroductionin

caspian seaauthors

doubtwhether hecaspian

hat n geologicalterms

egal status fthe sea