Price review arbitration remains a prevalent feature of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry. Contractual pricing schemes may require periodical adjustment to realign them with prevailing commercial realities or market conditions. Price review clauses may provide for the review and potential revision of the contract price, by agreement, at specific times and on the occurrence and fulfillment of certain conditions.Where agreement cannot be reached, disputes will often be settled by international arbitration. Some of the more commonly seen characteristics of price review clauses are explored below, together with the associated processes by which parties may seek to agree revision of the contract price, and failing agreement, the referral of that dispute to arbitration.
{"title":"Arbitration of LNG Price Review Disputes","authors":"Jon D. Sutcliffe, Jonathan Blaney","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021019","url":null,"abstract":"Price review arbitration remains a prevalent feature of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) industry. Contractual pricing schemes may require periodical adjustment to realign them with prevailing commercial realities or market conditions. Price review clauses may provide for the review and potential revision of the contract price, by agreement, at specific times and on the occurrence and fulfillment of certain conditions.Where agreement cannot be reached, disputes will often be settled by international arbitration. Some of the more commonly seen characteristics of price review clauses are explored below, together with the associated processes by which parties may seek to agree revision of the contract price, and failing agreement, the referral of that dispute to arbitration.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"1 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131209293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
COVID-19 and associated State measures have adversely impacted contract performance across the world, and Arab States are no exception. Contracting parties seeking to limit or exclude their liability in such circumstances may rely on contractual force majeure or hardship clauses, or—in the absence of such clauses and where the contract is governed by the law of an Arab State—on the statutory doctrines of force majeure and hardship.
{"title":"COVID-19 and the Exceptions to Contractual Liability in Arab Contract Law","authors":"M. Polkinghorne, Yasmine El Achkar","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021020","url":null,"abstract":"COVID-19 and associated State measures have adversely impacted contract performance across the world, and Arab States are no exception. Contracting parties seeking to limit or exclude their liability in such circumstances may rely on contractual force majeure or hardship clauses, or—in the absence of such clauses and where the contract is governed by the law of an Arab State—on the statutory doctrines of force majeure and hardship.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123556622","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Actors in the Oil & Gas sector frequently have the experience and foresight to include price adjustment and similar self-regulating clauses in their long-term contracts. It has long been the case in the MENA region that this, coupled with other factors such as the type and size of the companies in the sector and the applicable business and legal cultures, has limited the number of disputes requiring third-party adjudication, notably via international arbitration. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic has entered a second calendar year and continues to roil the world economy and upend established patterns and relationships, it is timely to review the legal landscape in MENA countries in respect of force majeure, hardship and related legal doctrines concerning the potential effects of changed conditions on contracts.This is particularly relevant as a number of these national laws treat the authority of a judge or arbitrator to potentially adjust a contract to maintain or restore its economic equilibrium in the face of unforeseen changed circumstances as a matter of public policy. It is also revealing to see how arbitral tribunals have in fact dealt in the past with other situations of changed conditions affecting Oil & Gas sector contracts in the MENA region and consider the potential implications for emerging and potential disputes, including those which may emerge from disruptions secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic. This review brings into stark relief the vital importance of effective and resilient contractual mechanisms and of careful attention to the choice and significance of the national law to govern such contracts.
{"title":"Changed Circumstances and Oil and Gas Contracts","authors":"R. Ziadé, A. Plump","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021022","url":null,"abstract":"Actors in the Oil & Gas sector frequently have the experience and foresight to include price adjustment and similar self-regulating clauses in their long-term contracts. It has long been the case in the MENA region that this, coupled with other factors such as the type and size of the companies in the sector and the applicable business and legal cultures, has limited the number of disputes requiring third-party adjudication, notably via international arbitration. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic has entered a second calendar year and continues to roil the world economy and upend established patterns and relationships, it is timely to review the legal landscape in MENA countries in respect of force majeure, hardship and related legal doctrines concerning the potential effects of changed conditions on contracts.This is particularly relevant as a number of these national laws treat the authority of a judge or arbitrator to potentially adjust a contract to maintain or restore its economic equilibrium in the face of unforeseen changed circumstances as a matter of public policy. It is also revealing to see how arbitral tribunals have in fact dealt in the past with other situations of changed conditions affecting Oil & Gas sector contracts in the MENA region and consider the potential implications for emerging and potential disputes, including those which may emerge from disruptions secondary to the COVID-19 pandemic. This review brings into stark relief the vital importance of effective and resilient contractual mechanisms and of careful attention to the choice and significance of the national law to govern such contracts.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115272548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There are three pillars of legal stability in international oil and gas investments: stabilization clauses, expectations of a stable legal framework under an investment treaty and guarantees set out in the host state’s domestic legislation. The diverse and pervasive character of stabilization clauses in investment agreements makes them the most important in practice.This article reviews their resilience alongside the other two pillars and concludes that they retain significant advantages. Even in a wider context of policies favouring a lower carbon consumption in the energy sector, and consequent long-term change, such clauses are likely to remain a continuing feature of investment agreements as a legal response to investors’ needs for predictability in making long-term commitments.
{"title":"Stabilization Clauses: Do They Have a Future?","authors":"Peter D. Cameron","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021018","url":null,"abstract":"There are three pillars of legal stability in international oil and gas investments: stabilization clauses, expectations of a stable legal framework under an investment treaty and guarantees set out in the host state’s domestic legislation. The diverse and pervasive character of stabilization clauses in investment agreements makes them the most important in practice.This article reviews their resilience alongside the other two pillars and concludes that they retain significant advantages. Even in a wider context of policies favouring a lower carbon consumption in the energy sector, and consequent long-term change, such clauses are likely to remain a continuing feature of investment agreements as a legal response to investors’ needs for predictability in making long-term commitments.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122068342","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Middle East holds the largest regional shares of oil and gas resources in the world. The region is also one of the world’s most important producers and exporters of oil and gas. It is no surprise then that the oil and gas industries have spearheaded the growth and transformation of Middle Eastern economies for the last few decades.With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, there has been a significant effect on the oil and gas markets globally. Drawing from examples across the region and globally, this article considers the effects of the pandemic on the oil and gas industry, the types of disputes that are likely to arise as a result of the pandemic within these industries, and, finally, the forms of dispute resolution that are favoured by stakeholders in the oil and gas markets and the capabilities in the Middle East to offer these dispute resolution services.
{"title":"Oil and Gas Disputes in the Middle East:A COVID-19 Era Perspective","authors":"Essam Al Tamimi","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021016","url":null,"abstract":"The Middle East holds the largest regional shares of oil and gas resources in the world. The region is also one of the world’s most important producers and exporters of oil and gas. It is no surprise then that the oil and gas industries have spearheaded the growth and transformation of Middle Eastern economies for the last few decades.With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, there has been a significant effect on the oil and gas markets globally. Drawing from examples across the region and globally, this article considers the effects of the pandemic on the oil and gas industry, the types of disputes that are likely to arise as a result of the pandemic within these industries, and, finally, the forms of dispute resolution that are favoured by stakeholders in the oil and gas markets and the capabilities in the Middle East to offer these dispute resolution services.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133299988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Aramco story is a fascinating and colourful history of the world’s most valuable oil concession, the challenges overcome by its original American owners and the orderly transfer of control of the world’s largest oil company to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It involved the largest American overseas investment, a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, the stabilization of global energy markets and the Middle East region, along with the transformation of a medieval society into a modern state. Unlike some of the other states in the region, Saudi Arabia never intended to nationalize or expropriate Aramco. Instead, it worked closely with its American investors and the American government to maximize production for the benefit of all the parties involved. The parties did this within a long tradition of “friendship and good will.” Despite their best efforts, they did come to blows in a landmark arbitration, the Saudi Arabia v.Aramco Arbitration, which is one of the most historically important investor state arbitrations of the last century.This article describes that case with insightful detail, along with how the parties maintained their “friendly relationship” long after the end of the arbitration.
{"title":"Aramco: The Story of the World’s Most Valuable Oil Concession and Its Landmark Arbitration","authors":"Atea Martin","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021015","url":null,"abstract":"The Aramco story is a fascinating and colourful history of the world’s most valuable oil concession, the challenges overcome by its original American owners and the orderly transfer of control of the world’s largest oil company to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It involved the largest American overseas investment, a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, the stabilization of global energy markets and the Middle East region, along with the transformation of a medieval society into a modern state.\u0000Unlike some of the other states in the region, Saudi Arabia never intended to nationalize or expropriate Aramco. Instead, it worked closely with its American investors and the American government to maximize production for the benefit of all the parties involved. The parties did this within a long tradition of “friendship and good will.” Despite their best efforts, they did come to blows in a landmark arbitration, the Saudi Arabia v.Aramco Arbitration, which is one of the most historically important investor state arbitrations of the last century.This article describes that case with insightful detail, along with how the parties maintained their “friendly relationship” long after the end of the arbitration.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"468 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116190333","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The obligations under many oil and gas contracts have become highly onerous as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.Whether on the losing or winning side, governments and companies face difficult choices between—on one hand—negotiating a balanced solution to the contractual imbalances created by COVID-19, and—on the other—invoking legal remedies that could potentially mitigate the burden of onerous performance. This article navigates some of those remedies and, in doing so, offers strategic and tactical considerations for parties operating in the Middle East considering whether to revise, suspend and/or terminate their long-term oil and gas contracts.
{"title":"Caught Between a Rock and COVID-19: Sharing the Pain of Onerous Oil and Gas Contracts in the Middle East","authors":"G. Coop, Roberto Lupini","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021021","url":null,"abstract":"The obligations under many oil and gas contracts have become highly onerous as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.Whether on the losing or winning side, governments and companies face difficult choices between—on one hand—negotiating a balanced solution to the contractual imbalances created by COVID-19, and—on the other—invoking legal remedies that could potentially mitigate the burden of onerous performance. This article navigates some of those remedies and, in doing so, offers strategic and tactical considerations for parties operating in the Middle East considering whether to revise, suspend and/or terminate their long-term oil and gas contracts.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125332919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Egyptian petroleum sector has recently prospered given the new discoveries and the extensive foreign direct investments injected into the country’s vast mineral resources.This article addresses petroleum concessions governing upstream exploration and exploitation activities. Egypt continues to adopt the production sharing system as the basic contractual model for petroleum exploration and exploitation activities. However, production sharing agreements take the form of legal concessions that regulate the rights and obligations of international oil companies (IOCs), the State and the major State-owned players in the upstream sector, including the Ministry of Petroleum, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGCP), the Egyptian Natural Gas Company (EGAS) and the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE).These concession agreements are capital intensive instruments involving complex regulation of the parties’ rights and obligations and are normally entered into on the basis of a model template, the most recent of which is that of 2018.This article discusses certain categories of disputes arising in the Egyptian concession agreements practice. The article starts with an overview of the upstream petroleum sector in Egypt and then addresses certain important provisions of the Egyptian model concession agreement, before scrutinizing certain categories of disputes. The article concludes with remarks on the prevailing status quo and the intricacies of Egyptian concession agreements.
{"title":"Petroleum Concessions in Egypt: A Recipe for Disputes?","authors":"M. Wahab","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021017","url":null,"abstract":"The Egyptian petroleum sector has recently prospered given the new discoveries and the extensive foreign direct investments injected into the country’s vast mineral resources.This article addresses petroleum concessions governing upstream exploration and exploitation activities. Egypt continues to adopt the production sharing system as the basic contractual model for petroleum exploration and exploitation activities. However, production sharing agreements take the form of legal concessions that regulate the rights and obligations of international oil companies (IOCs), the State and the major State-owned players in the upstream sector, including the Ministry of Petroleum, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGCP), the Egyptian Natural Gas Company (EGAS) and the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE).These concession agreements are capital intensive instruments involving complex regulation of the parties’ rights and obligations and are normally entered into on the basis of a model template, the most recent of which is that of 2018.This article discusses certain categories of disputes arising in the Egyptian concession agreements practice. The article starts with an overview of the upstream petroleum sector in Egypt and then addresses certain important provisions of the Egyptian model concession agreement, before scrutinizing certain categories of disputes. The article concludes with remarks on the prevailing status quo and the intricacies of Egyptian concession agreements.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121067180","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
MENA countries have long been important participants in the ICSID system. Several ICSID “firsts” are associated with MENA countries: the first signatory of the ICSID Convention, the first ICSID case, and the first “arbitration without privity.” This note examines the current (as of the end of 2020) ICSID caseload of MENA countries, including the sectoral distribution of the cases. Paradoxically, for a region so rich in petroleum resources, relatively few of the cases have involved oil and gas disputes.The note discusses possible reasons for this. It concludes by suggesting that in appropriate cases MENA countries might find ICSID’s proposed new mediation mechanism an attractive option for the settlement of petroleum investment disputes.
{"title":"ICSID and Investor-State Petroleum Disputes in the MENA Region","authors":"A. R. Parra","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2021023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2021023","url":null,"abstract":"MENA countries have long been important participants in the ICSID system. Several ICSID “firsts” are associated with MENA countries: the first signatory of the ICSID Convention, the first ICSID case, and the first “arbitration without privity.”\u0000This note examines the current (as of the end of 2020) ICSID caseload of MENA countries, including the sectoral distribution of the cases. Paradoxically, for a region so rich in petroleum resources, relatively few of the cases have involved oil and gas disputes.The note discusses possible reasons for this. It concludes by suggesting that in appropriate cases MENA countries might find ICSID’s proposed new mediation mechanism an attractive option for the settlement of petroleum investment disputes.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"592 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131592132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As a consensual and informal process, mediation relies on the key principles of party selfdetermination, mediator neutrality, and mediator impartiality. It is a form of negotiation assisted by a neutral third party who does not compel parties to accept any prescribed solution. Mediation can be used for both personal and professional disputes to avoid the burden of formal, lengthy, and cost-intensive court proceedings. While mediators may tailor the models of problemsolving— facilitative, evaluative, and transformative—to the specific case, any type of mediation requires significant party participation. The skilled mediator uses a set of specific techniques, including judicious questioning, active listening, and reality testing, to establish a safe and authentic mediation environment and help parties make an informed decision towards dispute resolution.
{"title":"Successful Mediation Strategies","authors":"Rhea Jabbour","doi":"10.54648/bcdr2019007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.54648/bcdr2019007","url":null,"abstract":"As a consensual and informal process, mediation relies on the key principles of party selfdetermination, mediator neutrality, and mediator impartiality. It is a form of negotiation assisted by a neutral third party who does not compel parties to accept any prescribed solution. Mediation can be used for both personal and professional disputes to avoid the burden of formal, lengthy, and cost-intensive court proceedings. While mediators may tailor the models of problemsolving— facilitative, evaluative, and transformative—to the specific case, any type of mediation requires significant party participation. The skilled mediator uses a set of specific techniques, including judicious questioning, active listening, and reality testing, to establish a safe and authentic mediation environment and help parties make an informed decision towards dispute resolution.","PeriodicalId":166341,"journal":{"name":"BCDR International Arbitration Review","volume":"273 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123118731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：