We have a maritime boundary dispute with the United States in the Beaufort Sea that revolves around different interpretations of an 1825 treaty between Russia and Great Britain. It creates a disputed sector of just over 6,000 square miles of seabed that is likely to be very rich in hydrocarbons.
There are a couple of easy solutions to this, and we really should sort it out. One is to draw a line straight through the middle of the disputed sector and split in two, thus resolving the dispute. Another more imaginative approach would be to declare a joint development zone for hydrocarbons. Other countries have done this elsewhere in the world. It provides the legal certainty that the oil companies need, and in the context of a North American energy market under chapter 6 of NAFTA, it's no big deal economically to think in this direction. In fact, it could show some real bilateral cooperation on this important front.
But we need to get something done, not in the least because we are now mapping the extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. Where the line beyond 200 nautical miles goes depends a lot on where the line within 200 nautical miles is. So the Beaufort Sea dispute needs to be resolved by 2013.