Cancelled: The 2012 U.S.-Mexico Accord on the Gulf of Mexico: Prospects and Challenges

Location

Institute for Peace & Justice Theatre

Free

This event has been cancelled.

Dr. Jorge Vargas, a professor of law at the University of San Diego School of Law, will discuss the current status of maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Mexico. His lecture will focus on the U.S.-Mexico Agreement on Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico signed in 2012 by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations Patricia Espinoza.

This agreement, both unique and unprecedented, established two unprecedented objectives: first, it divided a transfrontier hydrocarbon deposit in the deepest part of the Gulf; and, second, it established a legal framework to explore and exploit this deposit. The implementation of this agreement poses multiple challenges that will test the friendly relations between these two countries. However, this treaty also moves the U.S. and Mexico closer to completing their pending maritime boundary delimitations in the Gulf; allows U.S. oil companies to invest and enter into contracts with Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX); and may be Mexico’s best opportunity to modernize and strengthen its oil industry, solidify its economy, and become a business partner with the U.S.

Jorge A. Vargas is a native of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México. He received his law degree from the School of Law, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City; an LL.M. (Master of Law) from Yale Law School; and a S.J.D. (Doctor in the Science of Jurisprudence) from the University of Virginia. Dr. Vargas has been a Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law (USD) for 30 years, teaching and lecturing in the areas of international law, comparative law, and Mexican law.

Co-Sponsored by:

Trans-Border Institute, Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies
School of Law