Britain is to lodge a claim for extended territorial rights around the southern Atlantic island of Ascension in order to control oil and gas reserves.
Britain already has the rights over their resources, including oil or gas reserves, but it wants to extend those rights around Ascension on the grounds that the island's landmass actually reaches much further into the sea underwater.
Ascension Island is part of the British overseas territory of St Helena.
The move is part of a growing battle for control of the world's seabed because new technology has made any reserves of oil and gas there much more accessible.
Experts say that fewer than half of the world's maritime boundaries have been agreed, and there is significant potential for conflict where more than one country submits claims to overlapping areas.
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The UK To Fight for Ascension Islands Oil and Gas
Britain already has the rights over their resources, including oil or gas reserves, but it wants to extend those rights..
