India Will Expand its Offshore Oil & Gas Hunt to the Extended Continental Shelf

06 Aug 2024

The report stated that India is preparing to expand its offshore exploration for oil and gas to the extended continental shelf (ECS). The government is currently in the process of devising a strategy to compel state-owned explorers ONGC and Oil India Ltd. into service for conducting seismic surveys beyond its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on the east and west coasts.

In the backdrop of the increased movement of Chinese research vessels around Indian waters, the plan can be seen as a step towards demarcating the area, as the survey will help strengthen India’s claim over the ECS shelf boundary beyond the EEZ limits on the east and west coasts.

As per UNCLOS III, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of coastal states can extend up to 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which the width of the territorial sea is measured. In accordance with the aforementioned law, the continental shelf is permitted to extend up to a distance of 350 nautical miles from the baseline.