ABSTRACT
This chapter explores international regulation of similar divided resources and examines what provision might be made for the efficient, economical, and coordinated exploitation of oil and gas fields which transcend international boundaries. In 1976 the Mexican government followed the example set by Chile and Peru in 1948, and established an "exclusive economic zone" of 200 miles in which it claimed control of "all resources living and nonliving, free floating and attached to the seabed, and under the ocean floor." The United States and Mexico did, in fact, conduct good faith negotiations with the intention of delimiting a maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mexico. Although the history of United States and Mexican territorial relations has often been characterized by hostility, the two States have usually successfully negotiated to settle disputes as to jurisdiction over the resources of the seas.
