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As per a media advisory: The Arbitration Tribunal established to settle the dispute between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador [Canada] over the limits of their respective offshore exploration areas for petroleum products released its award on the first phase of the Arbitration, on Tuesday, May 22, 2001. A copy of the Award was released on the internet at URL www.bissettmatheson.com/arbitration/ . The first phase was held to determine whether the line dividing the respective offshore area of the provinces had been resolved by agreement. It was heard at the Wu Conference Centre, University of New Brunswick on March 12, 2001 to March 20, 2001. Both the relevant statutes and the Terms of Reference provide that the Tribunal is to apply the principles of international law governing maritime boundary delimitation with such modifications as circumstances require. The Tribunal was set up in May 2000 by Canadian federal Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale under federal statutes providing for joint administration and sharing of revenue arising from the exploration of petroleum products in submarine areas adjoining these provinces. The chair of the Tribunal is former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Gerard V. La Forest, Fredericton. The two additional arbitrators are Dr. James Richard Crawford, Cambridge University, England and Leonard Legault, Q.C. The legal team for Nova Scotia is headed by Yves Fortier, Q.C. (Olgivy, Renaud, Montreal) and that of Newfoundland and Labrador by Donald McRae (Professor of International Law, University of Ottawa). Because the Tribunal determined in the first phase that the issue was not resolved by agreement, the Tribunal is required in a second phase, to determine how, in the absence of any agreement, the dividing line is to be drawn.