India, neighbours fight for the continental shelf

By Jacob P. Koshy

25 August 2009

NEW DELHI: India’s claim over 300,000 sq. km of seabed in the Bay of Bengal that could potentially have large hydrocarbon reserves is being disputed by its eastern neighbours Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Myanmar, in a 4 August letter to the United Nations (UN), has complained that India has unilaterally extended the maritime boundary between the two countries, contravening a 1986 bilateral agreement. A copy of the letter is available on the UN website.

……India’s national gas hydrate programme was started in 1997 by the petroleum ministry along with Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd, GAIL (India) Ltd, Oil India Ltd, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, department of ocean development, National Institute of Oceanography and National Geophysical Research Institute…..Read complete article…