The Governing Law of International Oil Contracts In Iran Legislations

Abstract

Abstract. The historical record of preliminary negotiations of oil contracts, oil filings, verdicts and judicial decisions about international oil and gas contracts would clearly indicate that the subject of the governing law has been considered to be the main role in negotiations of international oil and gas contracts in many cases. Furthermore, it has sometimes been the subject of dispute so that violation of the validity of the governing law and misconception of it would result in insoluble consequences in oil filings. In addition to the investigation of the historical record of the governing law of international oil and gas contracts in Iran legislations, this paper would try to account for the subjects such as the mutual relationships of changes in the governing law with the type of international oil and gas contracts, and the reasons for formation and increasing tendency toward lex petrolea as the applicable regulations regarding the disputes arising from such contracts. It would also attempt to study the role of regulations pertaining to public order and the mandatory rules of the host country in imposing the governing law and accepting it on the behalf of oil companies, and also the role of the governing law in establishing the contractual balance in the upstream oil and gas contracts in order to encourage the investing companies.