Agreeing to share

UNESCO Courier, July-August, 1998 by Seydou Amadou Oumarou

The Dome Flore oilfield off the coast of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, 70 kilometres southwest of the Casamance river, has caused the two countries plenty of headaches since it was discovered by France's Total company in 1960. The only known offshore oilfield within their economic zone, which is also rich in fishing resources, its reserves are put at 100 million tonnes of heavy oil and only one million tonnes of light. Clearly, the economic stakes are high.

After 16 years of legal battles and a few skirmishes in 1991, the two countries opted for a pragmatic settlement of their territorial dispute and in October 1993 signed an agreement to manage and develop their maritime resources jointly. Until then, such an outcome had seemed a remote possibility.

The earliest negotiations date back to 1977. When the two countries failed to reach agreement, they decided in 1985 to take the case to arbitration before a tribunal. Four years later the court upheld a Franco-Portuguese agreement of 1960 establishing the maritime boundary between their two colonies. But Guinea Bissau rejected this decision, arguing that the tribunal had failed to provide a map showing the exact boundary, as the two parties had requested.

In March 1991, Guinea-Bissau lodged an appeal against the decision with the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Dismissing the appeal eight months later, the Court upheld the Franco-Portuguese agreement of 1960 and asked both parties to agree on a border between their respective exclusive zones.

Guinea Bissau went along with the offer of bilateral talks and eventually accepted the Court's verdict. In 1995 the two countries set up a joint body called the Management and Cooperation Agency (AGC), for the joint development of resources located between azimuths 268 [degrees] and 220 [degrees], starting from Cape Roxo on the land frontier between the two states.

The countries agreed on an equitable shareout of fishing resources, but not of oil. In accordance with the decision of the International Court of Justice at The Hague, 85% of oil profits will go to Senegal and 15% to Guinea Bissau. If new oil reserves are discovered, the 20-year agreement will be revised accordingly.

Senegal and Guinea Bissau have realized that they are better off getting along with one another than prolonging the dispute. The battle of Dome Flore will not take place.