RIASSUNTO
Abstract
The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and the Submerged Lands Act arediscussed. More importantly the leasing and operating regulations for thesubmerged lands of the outer continental shelf are analyzed in some detail.Geological considerations are used to propound the theory that rather than usethe depth formula of 100 fathoms for measuring the continental shelf, it ispreferable to place the boundary at the outer margin of the continental shelfor continental borderlands and refer this line to fixed points tied to theprimary geodetic net of the littoral continent.
The influence of international law with respect to offshore oil operationsis treated. The test of reasonableness is applied not only to the freedom ofthe seas doctrine of international law but to the regulations controllingoffshore drilling operations.
Introduction
Great areas of legal uncertainty were filled by the passage of the OuterContinental Shelf Lands Act and the Submerged Lands Act by the Congress in1953. More recently, May 8, 1954, the promulgation of Leasing and OperatingRegulations for the Outer Continental Shelf served to further clarify the hazylegal areas. These laws and regulations, instead of being obstacles have becomeuseful instruments to the industry. Where there was justifiable hesitationbefore, there is now excited activity to hasten offshore oil exploration.
I am certain that those of you whose companies are engaged in this type ofoperation have found that there still remains a considerable area forimprovement in the laws. In other words, things are still far from perfect. Theimperfections of the law will constitute no delaying factor to the virilespirit of the industry.
On March 10, 1778, Captain William Bligh wrote in the ship's log: ""Inthe forenoon, we struck sounding at 83 fathoms depth off the coast ofArgentine, this I concluded to be near the edge of the bank.""
Joseph M. G. Ravenal, the French diplomat, who had much to do with theTreaty of 1783 between the United States and Great Britain, wrote in 1803:""The sea which washes the shore of the state is deemed to form a partthereof. We could add that the bottom of the sea along the coast can beconsidered as having formed a part of the continent and is therefore stillconsidered as forming such a part.""