Oil and natural gas trapped in the sediments of the continental shelf are attracting worldwide economic interest. In the United States, the intensity of the debate between the individual states and the federal government over the offshore zone is largely based on its oil wealth. Oil-bearing geological structures occur in the shelves off the southern California coast and off the Gulf coasts of Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama. Potential production may be great. For example, the area of the continental shelf along the Texas coast in which conditions are favorable for oil accumulation is as large as the state of Illinois. Similar attention has recently been focused on the North Sea, particularly with respect to discoveries of natural gas. Other shelf areas have not yet attracted as much attention, but some authorities believe that the offshore waters will become the most significant areas of oil production in the future.
Continental shelves raise many questions of interstate and even international soverignty, since the limits of national jurisdiction over offshore waters were established prior to the realization of their economic importance. The continental shelf may extend as much as 100 miles beyond the limits presently claimed by most governments. The question of jurisdiction over these potential sources of oil may be difficult to adjudicate.
Fishing in international waters on the shelf has also created problems in the past and may become even more troublesome as the world population increases. The legal questions about this activity are complex and, in fact, may be insoluble within the framework of our present international laws. For instance, is it proper for Soviet fishermen to appear in large numbers off the coasts of Oregon and Washington, even if they observe our 3-mile limit? What about American fishermen off the coast of Mexico? Is it proper for a nation to drill oil wells in an internationalized section of a continental shelf that is, from a physical standpoint, a part of the mainland of another nation? These problems may become matters of urgent international concern in the future.