23 September, 2017
The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), constituted on 3 December 2014 to delimit the maritime boundary between Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana in the Atlantic Ocean, just rendered its decision this Saturday 23 September 2017.
The Special Chamber of the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), has ruled in favor of Ghana in the three-year-long dispute between the country and Cote d'Ivoire.
"The Special Chamber unanimously finds that Ghana did not violate the sovereign rights of Côte d'Ivoire", said Judge Boualem Bouguetaia, President of the Special Chamber.
The tribunal accepted that the equidistance measurement be used and according to Petroleum Economist, the new boundary line determined the Tribunal "does not materially affect Ghana's interest".
The ruling means Ghana can keep its oil concessions and develop the Tweneboa, Enyira and Ntome (TEN) oil fields in the area with hopes of boosting production.
".We can now restart work on the additional drilling planned as part of the TEN fields' plan of development and take the fields towards their full potential", said Paul McDade, chief executive of London-listed oil company Tullow Oil, the lead operator of the project.
Ivory Coast, however, claimed the border was not properly demarcated and accused Ghana of carrying out oil exploration activities in Ivorian zones.
The Chamber rejected Ivory Coast's argument that Ghana's coastal lines were unstable.
An official at the court confirmed that the boundary delineated by the tribunal did not correspond with the claim of either party.
Ivory Coast has a daily oil production of some 45,000 barrels and is aiming to increase its output to 200,000 barrels per day by 2020.
Ghana's defense held that Cote d'Ivoire was barred from demanding ownership to the disputed area it had acknowledged that Ghana owned the space without any qualms in the decades leading up to the oil discovery.
