| Abstrakt: |
Since 1998, there has been a small but steady flow of articles employing the concept of 'lex petrolea' to evoke the existence of a distinct, and distinctive, group of rules that govern--or might govern--international petroleum transactions and relationships, alongside applicable national and international law. This article argues that we should dispense with this concept, on the grounds that it is ill-defined, that there is little or no evidence to support the claims made for it, that it lacks any sound theoretical basis, and that it may be capable of employment in a way that damages legitimate interests of petroleum host states. We should certainly continue to look for common elements in international industry, state and arbitral petroleum practice that might guide future policy, agreements and dispute settlement in the field, but these can be adequately described in ordinary English ('transnational petroleum law') instead of bad Latin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
