Studies On National Compensation Liability For Injurious Consequences Arising Out Of Oil Spill In Offshore Oil Exploration

Offshore oil exploration is becoming the main method of gaining global energy and frequent oil exploration activities will inevitably lead to oil spills and marine pollution. As the water in the ocean flows everywhere in the world, oil pollution will usually spread all around the world, causing global environmental pollution in other countries. As a result, the golden rule in international law "one state must develop its own resources on the basis of not doing harm on other countries" will be break and then the state liability will follow soon.International law community has not reached a uniform legal document on National Compensation Liability in offshore oil exploration till now. However, the documents such as "United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea" and "The Draft on International Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Acts Not Prohibited by International Law " have exhibited some basic ideas of state liability. Indeed, some ideas about legal system design and compensation procedural arrangements showed in some legal documents are of great significance in guiding us in the research of state liability, although they have not yet been in force.The offshore oil and gas resource is extremely rich in China and the South China Sea is even called "the second Persian Gulf in the world". It can be expected that the exploration of oil resource will focus on marine oil exploration in the future. Also, we have to realize that China is likely to encounter state liability claims once there are environment damages to neighboring countries caused by oil spills. What is more, these damages occurred particularly in the South China Sea will be used as excuses leading to some unfriendly behaviors by some Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, the study on National Compensation Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Oil Spill in Offshore Oil Exploration can be considered as a proactive work.This paper is based on the status of marine oil pollution to analyze the foundation of national liability from the aspects of its nature, characteristics and so forth. Meanwhile, I try my best to collect the appropriate relating legal documents in order to have a better grasp of National Compensation Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Oil Spill in Offshore Oil Exploration. In detail, my paper is mainly divided into four sectors:Part One, I will state the objectivity and necessity of the study on National Compensation Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Oil Spill in Offshore Oil Exploration by collecting the existing data of marine oil pollution and related case.Part Two, I will focus on the analysis of National Compensation Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Oil Spill in Offshore Oil Exploration. This section goes on along the way from "traditional state responsibility" to "new national responsibility" to raises the center topic of this paper gradually. In the analysis of "New State responsibility", I pay more attention on State Liability caused by marine oil pollution. At the same time, I detailed the content of National Compensation Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Oil Spill in Offshore Oil Exploration from its concept, nature and characteristics so that I can make sufficient preparation for the following discussion.Part Three, following the second part, this part make detailed analysis for the foundation of National Compensation Liability for Injurious Consequences Arising out of Oil Spill in Offshore Oil Exploration from international legal theory and international legislation and practice. By this way, I plan to sum up the reasonability and necessity in the establishment of state responsibility.Part Four, Conclusion. As a kind of supplemented system for traditional state liability, state compensation liability plays a significant role in international environment pollution. Also, national compensation liability for injurious consequences arising out of oil spill in offshore oil exploration can guarantee the security of international environment and the management of high-risk marine oil exploration.