Page 354 - The Arabian Gulf States_Neat

290 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE ARABIAN GULF STATES
However, in view of the differences of opinion among the Gulf
littoral States on the use of islands and low-tide elevations as baselines
for establishing the Gulf median line, it may be suggested that only
those islands and elevations that are ‘situated wholly or partly at a
distance not exceeding the breadth of the territorial sea from the
mainland or an island’ could be used as baselines for measuring the
median line for the demarcation of submarine areas in the Gulf.1

THE UNSETTLED BOUNDARY DISPUTES

1. Boundary disputes in the Higher Gulf
(a) Definition of offshore areas oxer which concession rights are granted
On the Persian side of the Gulf, the relevant concession agreements
are:

(i) Agreement between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and
A gip-Miner aria (SIRIP), 24 August 19572
Article 3 of this agreement defines the concession area as including:
(1) a zone of the continental shelf located in the northern part of the
Persian Gulf measuring approximately 5,600 sq. kilometres.
(3) a zone along the coast of the Oman Sea extending up to the conti­
nental shelf, measuring approximately 6,000 sq. kilometres.
The limits of the above-mentioned zones are indicated respectively in
Appendices 2, 3 and 4 of this agreement.
(ii) Agreement between National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and
Pan-American Petroleum Corporation (IPAC), April 1958.3
The concession area of the Company is stated in Schedule I of the
agreement as including:
Area I, to the north of SIRIP concession, approximately 1,000 sq. kilo­
metres.
(This area was later relinquished by IPAC and it is now available for
bidding after having been enlarged.)
Area II, to the south of SIRIP concession, approximately 15,000 sq. kilo­
metres.
draw that pair of parallel lines tangent to opposite ends or sides of the island which
encloses the least area of water between island and mainland. . . . Then, if the
land area of the island ... exceeds the water area bounded by the parallel lines, the
island and the mainland, the island should be reckoned as if part of the mainland
baseline, in laying down the median line
1 Article 11 of the Convention on the Territorial Sea.
2 For English text, see The Petroleum Times, Suppl., vol. LXI, No. 157-,
8 November 1957.
s Ibid., Suppl., vol. LXII, No. 1586, 23 May 1958.