Russia and Norway Signed Maritime Border Agreement

Russia and Norway signed maritime border agreement delimiting the two countries’ maritime border in the Barents Sea (a part of the Arctic Ocean) on 15 September, 2010 at Murmansk, a Barents Sea port in Russia. The maritime border agreement was signed in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in full accordance with the international law.

Key Features of the Agreement
•    As per agreement Russia and Norway decided to end their 40 year dispute over an area of 175000 sq.km. in the Barents Sea of the Arctic Ocean by dividing the disputed area equally between them.
•    The maritime border agreement between Russia and Norway will end the moratorium since 1980s which prohibited any exploration or exploitation of petroleum and natural gas reserves in the disputed area.
•    Under the maritime border agreement Russia and Norway agreed on cooperation regarding trans-boundary petroleum and natural gas reserves in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
•    The agreement also ensured close cooperation between Norway and Russia in the sphere of fisheries.

The Reasons behind the dispute 
The disputed area in the Barents Sea is located to the north off the coastlines of Russia and Norway and estimated to have huge petroleum and natural gas reserves which could be worth billions of dollars. Because of Global warming the ice is melting in the Barents Sea and making the region’s reserves of oil and gas more accessible. The dispute dated back to the years of 1970s and initially was about fishing rights but the recent discovery of petroleum reserves in the region aggravated the dispute between Russia and Norway.

Significance of the Agreement
The agreement would enable Norway to maintain its oil and gas production levels which faces the crisis of decreasing reserves in the Norwegian Sea and would provide Russia the opportunity to increase its knowledge of offshore project technology. Besides, the agreement serves as a milestone in the normalisation of the relations among five coastal states Russia, Norway, Canada, America and Denmark(also referred as Arctic Powers) in the Arctic Ocean. Disputes over offshore boundaries intensified after melting polar ice resulted into the discovery of oil and gas in the Arctic region. This resulted into claims and counter-claims made by the coastal states of Arctic region on new discoveries of oil and gas.
Other disputes in the Arctic Region
•    Canada-America dispute over the maritime boundary in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska and the Yukon.
•    Canada-Denmark dispute in the Lincoln Sea north of Ellesmere Island and Danish controlled Greenland.
•    Russia-Canada-Denmark dispute around the territory of Lomonosov ridge, an underwater ridge in the Arctic Ocean.

Important information
•    International law clarified by International Court of Justice (ICJ) allows to adjusting or moving the delimitation line, in cases when there are disparities in the coastal lengths of the nations involved.
•    A maritime delimitation line defines the jurisdictional boundary between the nations in accordance with international law. This concerns the continental shelf and the 200 mile zones.  It does not, however, limit the freedoms of the high seas, including the freedom of navigation.
•    The above rule is a part of the UN convention of the Law of the Sea, 1982.
•    The Arctic is estimated to hold 13% of the world's remaining Petroleum deposits and 30% of its natural gas reserves.
•    Petroleum or mineral oil is a liquid form of hydrocarbons and natural gas is the gaseous form of the hydrocarbons.