Oil Contracts

One of the concerns regarding the environment is the pollution caused by the extraction and transportation of oil products. In this regard, paying attention to international oil contracts is crucial. The observance of the principles of environmental law in oil contracts affects reduction of oil pollution, and the role of these contracts in adjusting the behaviors of the parties must be monitored. Insertion of responsibility for compliance with environmental principles in oil contracts means recognition or the possible aggrieved party, determining the pollutant, facilitating the legal process in favor of the aggrieved party, and protecting their rights in regards of receiving compensation or restoration. Determining the guarantee of proper execution for oil pollution in oil contracts, will obligate the parties to use standards that will reduce oil pollution. These standards are the governing principles over the environmental regulations such as the principle of prevention, the principle of public action, the principle of joint responsibility, the principle of transparency, the principle of compensation by the polluter, and the principle of precautionary approach which will be imperative in the document text; their implementation will reduce oil pollution and gradually eradicate it. In this article, using the Descriptive-analytical method, the implementation of oil contracts in the light of environmental standards in US and Iranian law is examined and environmental challenges and solutions to upstream oil contracts are presented.

the formation of the current legal system is a function and is influenced by a basic element called time. An element that influences not only the formation of the legal system, but also its evolution.so, the legal system in the Iranian oil industry began with a contract and not with the legislation of a law. In relation to the term "contractual framework", it seems necessary to explain that the contractual framework refers to the criteria which give the contracts such a feature that it distinguishes that contract and similar contracts from other contracts concluded in that field. What were these contracts? How did they form the legal system of the Iranian oil industry? What has been their impact on technology transfer in the oil industry? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in this work. Disappointment with the framework of previous agreements (concession agreements), along with socio-political contexts such as the nationalization of the oil industry, led to a re-examination of this industry's contract frameworks in the light of past experiences, better future benefits and national independence and sovereignty. But how successful it was, that is another matter. Because the oil companies did not simply want to transfer the maximum benefits to the countries with oil resources, and used the dependence of those countries to their industry as a tactic against this trend as much as possible. Therefore, the structure of contracts governing the oil industry should be considered as a result of this conflict of interests.

The legal regime of oil and gas in Iran, started with concession contracts, has evolved from partnership contracts to service agreements during its transformation. In all types of these contracts, there has been efforts to preserve national interests, through the insertion of various contractual provisions and elements. Approving the first oil law in Iran (oil Act 1957), some of these elements entered into the law and became binding. Gradually, with reforming of oil laws in different periods, these elements, have also been changed in the law. This paper is discussing how to apply and evolve these elements in Iran's oil contracts and laws, as well as determining the role of these elements in the development of Iran's oil and gas legal system. The results show two different periods. Adopting of oil Acts of 1957 and 1974 in the first period, legislative developments moved towards the completion and creation of a coherent and targeted legal regime. In the second period, after the Islamic Revolution of Iran, there was no unified approach to formulating a comprehensive oil law in the oil Acts of 1987 and 2011, and the oil Acts in this period are very brief and concise, so that most of the issues related to the oil in the oil industry, remained silent in these Acts and dealt with in other Acts other than the oil Acts. In this period, oil contracts played a more prominent role in the development of oil rights than the law, and the issues that remain silent in the oil Act, are mentioned in oil contracts of this period. Therefore, the role of law in the first period and the role of contract in the second period have been more prominent in the development of Iran oil and gas law.