On June 9, 2000, the United States and Mexico agreed to divide the Western Gap, a region that lies beyond the 200 mile limits of either nation. Treaty negotiations were premised on the assertion by both nations that the seabed and subsoil met the legal requirements described in Article 76 of UNCLOS. In recent years, there have been a number of major oil discoveries near the Western Gap, along the U.S.-Mexico maritime boundary. This panel explores the history of this little known region and begins the important task of examining the legal and political impediments to the efficient development and conservation of transboundary hydrocarbons in the deepest portions of the Gulf.
| Panel Members |
- Professor Richard McLaughlin – Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies
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[Presentation]
Richard J. McLaughlin was named Endowed Chair for Marine Policy and Law at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in June 2005. From 1987-2005, Dr. McLaughlin was Professor of Law and Ray and Louise Stewart Lecturer at the University of Mississippi School of Law where he regularly taught International Law, Property Law, Ocean and Coastal Law, International Environmental Law, Admiralty, and other courses. Professor McLaughlin has lectured at leading academic institutions throughout the world including Cambridge University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Hawaii, University of Miami, University of Oregon, University of Belize and the University of West Indies in Barbados. As Director of the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program from 1987-99, he provided legal research and advice on a wide range of Gulf of Mexico issues to state officials and coastal constituents. A graduate of Tulane University Law School and the University of Washington School of Law, he holds a doctorate degree in law from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley. He has been actively involved in a variety of leadership positions in the marine policy field including National Chair of the Maritime Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools; Board Member of the Law of the Sea Institute; National Co-Chair of the Marine Affairs and Policy Association; and Board of Editors of the Territorial Sea Journal. A former Fulbright Scholar to Japan, he has published over fifty articles and monographs on ocean and coastal policy issues.
- Dr. Robert Smith – Geographic Consultant; U.S. Department of State (retired)
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[Presentation]
Dr. Smith advises on all aspects of ocean policies and developing strategies for exploring and exploiting offshore resources, including risk assessments. He provides geographic expertise for maritime boundary negotiations and arbitration, offshore jurisdictional claims, sovereignty disputes, and for the development of offshore resources. He worked for almost 31 years as a geographer for the U.S. Department of State where he was the U.S. government expert on maritime boundary and jurisdictional issues. He was responsible for the technical and geographical aspects of negotiating U.S. bilateral maritime boundaries and establishing U.S. claims to marine jurisdiction. In this role, he coordinated the U.S. effort to develop technically accurate and precise boundaries and outer limits for the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and the continental shelf. Dr. Smith oversaw and was the principle author of the State Department’s Limits in the Seas studies in which analyses is given on the state practice of maritime claims and boundaries. He is the co-author of two books on excessive maritime claims, the author of a book on the exclusive economic zone, and co-editor of the American Society of International Law’s International Maritime Boundaries series. In addition, he has taught at Georgetown University. He has provided testimony in both U.S. Supreme Court and international courts.
- Professor Ted McDorman – Faculty of Law, University of Victoria
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Ted L. McDorman is a Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He has written widely on ocean law and policy issues including a number of articles regarding Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Since 2000, he has been editor-in-chief of Ocean Development and International Law. From 2002-2004, Professor McDorman was “academic-in-residence” at the Bureau of Legal Affairs, Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs where he was involved in a number of ocean and environmental matters. He is currently the 2007 Fulbright Visiting Chair in Canada-U.S. Relations at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C.
- Mr. Francisco Mendez – General Counsel’s Office, Exxon Mobil Corporation J. Francisco Mendez was born in Mexico City, Mexico. He received his law degree from the “Universidad Panamericana” in Mexico. After graduating law school in 1983, J. Francisco Mendez began his career as an Associate Attorney for Baker & McKenzie in Mexico working issues related to Corporate Law. In 1990 he joined Bausch and Lomb Mexico, S.A. de C.V. as a General Counsel. In 1995 J. Francisco Mendez joined Exxon Corporation as General Counsel for Mexico where he had responsibility for downstream and chemical legal work. In 2000 after the merger between Exxon and Mobil he was transferred to Houston, TX as Counsel of ExxonMobil Exploration & Development where he has responsibility for exploration and development legal work in Mexico, South America and Italy.
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