This first book in a three-volume set is concerned with the law governing the exploitation of energy and mineral resources in the areas within the limits of national jurisdiction - that is, all of the submarine areas extending from the coast to the seaward limit of the continental shelf.;Although the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has still not entered into force and may not do so for many years for some of the major maritime powers, its adoption in 1982 did, nonetheless, usher in a period of relative stability in the rules governing the areas within national jurisdiction, including, in particular, the continental shelf. However, being the result of compromise, some of its rules are undeniably vague and it has been left to state practice and international courts and tribunals to develop these rules further, especially those relating to the delimitation of the continental shelf between neighbouring states. This volume provides an analysis of the rules of convention and customary law in the light of this practice.