US offshore drilling contractors want the US Senate to ratify the 21-year-old Law of the Sea Convention sooner rather than later. Trade groups told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Oct. 21 the United Nations' treaty will protect US interests by helping guarantee access to the continental shelf beyond 200 miles and protecting navigational freedom.
Paul Kelly, senior vice-president of Houston-based Rowan Cos. Inc., testified on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute, the National Ocean Industries Association, and the International Association of Drilling Contractors.
The convention
Already signed by 143 countries, the UN convention establishes several institutions, including the International Seabed Authority and the Continental Shelf Commission, a body of experts through which nations may establish universally binding outer limits for the continental shelf.
Treaty proponents argue active participation in the agreement will ensure that protections and restrictions are applied fairly.
"Notwithstanding the US's view of customary international law, the US petroleum industry is concerned that failure by the US to become a party to the convention could adversely affect US companies' operations [off] other countries," Kelly said.
The US opposed an earlier 1982 treaty largely because it included a deepwater mining revenue-sharing provision drillers did not like. Twelve years of negotiations yielded a compromise, and in October 1994 then-President Bill Clinton sent the treaty to the Senate. But even with bipartisan support, the proposal faltered. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), then-chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, refused to move the proposal out of committee because of an ongoing feud with the UN. Helms's mistrust of the UN, along with general legislative inertia, stalled the process until the senator retired and new deepwater drilling advances renewed commercial interest in getting the US on board.
White House role
Treaty supporters want the White House to help move things forward. Like both his predecessors, President George W. Bush wants the treaty ratified. But Iraq and homeland security issues still dominate the White House policy agenda.
In the meantime, treaty proponents hope a pending report by the congressionally mandated US Oceans Commission will help make their case for urgency.
It is unclear whether the Senate will pass the treaty this year. Ratifying the measure requires a two-thirds majority vote, and while there is bipartisan support for the treaty, it may take until next year for lawmakers to fully endorse it.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alas.), for example, generally supports the convention but has lingering concerns.
"I urge caution," he told committee members during a hearing on the subject. "The Law of the Sea Convention and other related agreements must not be open-ended; provisions must be specific and precise to prevent future misinterpretation."
Stevens wants the panel to study a provision supporting navigation freedom in territorial seas. Currently the convention puts coastal states more at risk for an oil spill because it allows foreign single-hulled ships to move freely in territorial seas, Stevens said.