Shift as Kenya, Somalia oil rights row moves to UN

Politics and policy

 

By ALLAN ODHIAMBO

In Summary

• Attorney-General Githu Muigai said on Friday that Kenya had not been served with the court papers, but would defend the country’s interests when the matter comes up.
• The move by Somalia is expected to heighten uncertainty among oil exploration firms already at work or eyeing the blocks in the disputed off-shore territory.

The demand for Kenya’s in-land gas and oil exploration blocks could climb, following the escalation of a dispute with Somalia over the use of resources around shared Indian Ocean off-shore border territory.

Somalia last week moved to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to determine the maritime boundary between the two coastal nations, which have disagreed over the rights for exploration and revenue collection from oil discoveries.

Somalia asked the court to intervene, saying “diplomatic negotiations, in which their respective views have been fully exchanged, have failed to resolve this disagreement,” a statement issued by the court early Friday said.

Attorney-General Githu Muigai said on Friday that Kenya had not been served with the court papers, but would defend the country’s interests when the matter comes up.

The move by Somalia is expected to heighten uncertainty among oil exploration firms already at work or eyeing the blocks in the disputed off-shore territory. Kenya recently identified eight new offshore exploration blocks available for licensing, and all but one of them are located in the contested area.

READ: Somalia takes Kenya to UN court in oil rights row

It has about 20 offshore exploration blocks, according to data by the National Oil Corporation of Kenya(Nock).

Shared territory

In May, Kenya expressed optimism of reaching a deal with Somalia over the exploration of resources around the shared Indian Ocean offshore territory. The government in its preliminary prospectus for the successful Eurobond said the two countries were in discussions to amicably resolve the matter.

“Kenya and Somalia are in discussion with regards to their respective submissions to the UN Commission on the Limits Continental Shelf,” the document said in part.

READ: Kenya upbeat on ocean deal with Somalia

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2009 that the border would run east along the line of latitude, but Somalia which has lacked an effective central government since 1991, then rejected the agreement in parliament.

Somalia’s government in 2012 accused Kenya of awarding offshore oil and gas exploration blocks illegally to multinationals Total and Eni because the concessions lie in waters claimed by Somalia.

Kenya denied claims that ownership of the blocks was contested and said there was no need to hold up exploration. Both countries have since submitted separate submissions to the UN agency seeking to claim additional territory on the shared Indian Ocean border.

According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, all countries that border the ocean are allowed to use 200 miles into the ocean for exclusive economic purposes without interference from other countries.