In the past years,the availability of the technology that allows for the exploitation of offshore resources at depths that were recently unreachable to mankind and the desire to extend national jurisdiction in order to secure access to non-living marine natural resources,has resulted in an increase of coastal States' claims over maritime areas and in particular over the continental shelf.Amongst the different regions of the planet,the Asia-Pacific region is a clear example of a situation where the potential development of offshore hydrocarbon deposits has been the cause of disputes between the relevant coastal States.In fact,considering on the one hand,the existing disputes and the number of maritime boundaries that have been delimitated in this region and,on the other hand,the growing need for energy sources,the right to develop offshore hydrocarbon deposits is a key issue for the States in the Asia-Pacific region.Notwithstanding the fact that contemporary public international law,and in particular law of the sea,does not provide a straight forward solution for the settlement of such disputes,State practice and some international jurisprudence have considered interim measures pending maritime delimitation.In some cases,interim measures such as joint development agreements have allowed for the development of common offshore resources that straddle a boundary line or are found in areas of overlapping sovereignty claims.This was the case of the legal regimes of joint development of offshore hydrocarbon deposits implemented in the Timor Sea,the Northeast China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.Therefore,despite the legal disparities of known joint development agreements of offshore hydrocarbon deposits and the fact that the respective concept and legal nature is far from being homogenous,it is possible,after a comprehensive legal analysis of the different agreements,to present a legal solution adapted to the specific circumstances of the Asia-Pacific region,that could ultimately lead to an economic,political and social improvement of this region.%在过去的几年里,开发人类近期难以企及的深海资源的技术可行性,以及扩大国家管辖以确保对非生物海洋自然资源之占有的渴望,已经使得沿海国对海洋领域尤其是对大陆架领域的主张增多.纵观地球上的不同区域,亚太地区就是一个因对海洋油气矿藏的潜在开发引发有关沿海国家之争端的明显例证.事实上,一方面考虑到现有的争端以及该区域已划定的海洋边界数量,另一方面考虑到对能源需求的不断增长,海洋油气矿藏的开发权对亚太地区国家而言无疑已成为了一个关键议题.虽然当代国际公法尤其是海洋法对此类争端的解决没有规定一个直截了当的做法,但是国家实践以及一些国际判例都就未决的海洋划界问题考虑了一些临时措施.在某些情况下,例如共同开发协议这样的临时方案,已经允许对跨界的或在主权要求重叠区域发现的共同海洋资源的共同开发.在帝汶海、中国东北部海域和泰国湾实施的共同开发机制即是如此.因此,虽然已知的海洋油气矿藏共同开发协议在法律上存在差异,各自概念和法律性质远未统一,但是经全面分析这些殊异的协议,提出一个适合于亚太地区具体情况并能最终改善该地区的经济、政治和社会状况的法律解决方案还是可能的.
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