Law Commons^™

Stemming The Black Tide: Cooperation On Oil Pollution Preparedness And Response In The South China Sea And East Asian Seas, Robin M. Warner

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

As global hydrocarbon resources on shore steadily decline, there has been an increase in offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. Some estimates suggest that there are over 6,000 offshore oil and gas installations worldwide. Notwithstanding simmering disputes over the territorial sovereignty and associated maritime zones of a number of island groups in the South China Sea and adjacent East Asian seas, exploration for offshore oil and gas resources under national and joint development regimes has become a prominent feature of these areas. It is estimated that there are now over 1,390 offshore oil and gas installations in the South China Sea …

Island Disputes And The "Oil Factor" In The South China Sea Disputes, Clive H. Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The South China Sea has long been regarded as one of the key potential flashpoints for conflict in the Asia-Pacific, alongside North Korea and Taiwan. Recently tensions have been on the rise and relations between China and the other South China Sea littoral states have become more fraught – characterised not only by diplomatic claim and counter-claim (though frequently framed in less than diplomatic language) but also, more worryingly, by confrontations at sea.

Context, as they say, is everything. This article briefly outlines geopolitical drivers that sustain these complex and seemingly intractable disputes, and seeks to shed light on their …

Book Review Of Oil On Water: Tankers, Pirates And The Rise Of China, Christopher Rahman

Faculty of Law - Papers (Archive)

Oil on Water sheds light on the vital economic and strategic issue of the international oil trade. Oil remains the most important of all fuels, and the viability of the oil trade is highly dependent upon the safety and security of shipping. However, while the idea of ‘energy security’ is a term widely employed and appreciated in the abstract, the actual details of how the world’s economies are supplied are not well understood. The issue has gained much greater salience in recent years due to structural upward changes in oil prices, mostly as a result of rapidly growing demand in …