Petroleum regulation in an international context: the universality of petroleum regulation and the concept of lex petrolea

Abstract

While energy and resources law is on the one hand national law – sometimes supplemented in the case of regional economic integration as in the European Community – the organisational and contractual practices are greatly affected by the specific technical and economic logistics of the industry. An international ‘lex mercatoria’ of energy and resources law has emerged. Commercial, financing and other contractual practices are often alike, if not identical, all around the globe; with sometimes only scant influence from the idiosyncrasies of national law. The frequent recourse to arbitration tends to enhance the international customary law aspect of energy and resources law. Contractual innovations leapfrog from country to country and over the barriers of different legal systems. Comparative law therefore needs to understand how industry practices and imperatives on the one hand, [and] national law constraints on the other, shape legal instruments and concepts.