Somalia Challenges Kenyan Blocks at World Court

Somalia is contesting Kenya’s jurisdiction over an offshore area of some 100,000 km² at the International Court of Justice (otherwise known as the World Court) this week in The Hague.

Kenya claims it sought to agree the dispute through a bilateral agreement. But Somalia’s lawyer told the court in his summing-up to a first round of oral arguments on September 20: “Kenya raises issues of bad faith to stop a resolution of this dispute… This court offers an end to uncertainty and the tantalising prospect of less instability” for Somalia.

According to submissions to the court, reported by Kenya’s Daily Nation newspaper on September 19, the dispute focuses on offshore blocks awarded by Kenya to Italy's Eni (L-21, L-23, L-24), French Total (L-22) and US firm Anadarko (L-5) in the disputed offshore area.

September 20 marked day two of a week of hearings into the ‘Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean, Somalia versus Kenya’ case; with a second round of oral hearings due September 21 and 23. Somalia asked filed an application to the court to rule on the dispute on August 28 2014. NGW contacted the Court to ask when a final verdict is expected to be delivered, but had not heard back at time of going to press.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (Photo credit: ICJ/Yeu Ninje)

Eni's website says that its three blocks were signed in 2012 and extend over more than 35,000 km² adding: "These … strengthen Eni’s presence in the exploration of East African frontier basins, which led to the recent discovery of large volumes of natural gas in the deep waters of Mozambique.” It is still mulling a final investment decision on a floating liquefaction (FLNG) project on the Coral prospect off Mozambique.

Areas licensed in 2011 to BG (now Shell) offshore Kenya covering 10,400 km² are not thought to be in the disputed zone. Shell later this year will resume exploratory drilling of its gas-rich blocks offshore Tanzania, just to the south of Kenya.

Ghana and Ivory Coast are due to have a similar offshore dispute resolved by the International Tribunal for Law of the Sea in 2017. The dispute has held up further exploration drilling of the Tullow-led TEN oil and gas field, although the field itself started producing oil last month.

Because parties in these two disputes have gone to international courts for a final ruling, the chances of each now negotiating a joint development zone (JDZ) – such as exists between Angola and Congo (Brazzaville) over the Lianzi oilfield, and between Nigeria and Sao Tome e Principe, and indeed the UK and Norway on some producing areas – now look very slim.

Mark Smedley