Commercial Contracts in International Oil and Gas Industry

Commercial Contracts in International Oil and Gas Industry This paper aims to address the issues associated with long term petroleum contracts concluded between the state and international oil companies in terms of the political risks investors tend to face in such contracts as well as the risk of change of circumstances brought about not by the act of the parties but rather by the time. In doing so, the efficiency of both stabilization and renegotiation clauses, as means of mitigating these mentioned risks, are critically examined. It argues that stabilization clauses are highly problematic with regard to their validity and effect as they would normally conflict with the very well established principle of international law of state sovereignty, also these clauses are limited only to the change of regulatory framework and does not take into consideration the effect of change of other circumstances which may have a considerable impact on the parties obligations. Whereas, renegotiation clauses can be useful to reduce the impact of changes not only the legal framework of the host state but also other circumstances which are beyond the control of the parties should proper and clear mechanisms and criteria for implementing these clauses be provided for within the clause. It is widely recognized that regulatory stability of any given state is an essential element of promoting and encouraging investment in general and to attract and secure the confidence of potential foreign investors in particular.[1] This is certainly the case for energy projects where investors are vulnerable to wide variety of risks throughout the projects life, given the long duration and the capital intensive characters of these projects. In addition, the vurnablity of petroleum contracts to the change of circumstances, which may be beyond their control such as price fluctuation in the international energy market, can make the contractual arrangement that was once profitable becoming highly undesirable a few years later.[2] Not to mention the very fact that one of the parties of these contracts is state or its agency may well raise the investors concerns that the contractual arrangements once have been secured at the time of negotiating can be disregarded by unilateral states act later. Therefore, it has been the tendency of oil and gas investors to seek protection against these risks by providing for legal mechanism in the contract in order to mitigate their impact throughout the project period. These legal mechanisms tend to be in the form of stability guarantees offered by the state, either stabilization clauses or renegotiation clauses, as well as providing for arbitration to be the manner of dispute resolution. However, while the latter has become a stable and widely recognized clause aiming to ensure the netiaulty and fairness of resolving disputes arising between the states and IOCs, the former has generated much concern over their legal validity and effect, simply because of the fact that the main objective of these clauses is to fetter the states right to legislate and regulate for reasonably long period of time. It is the aim of the second chapter to critically analyze the different views given to stabilization clauses in scholars writing and the relevant arbitration awards in terms of their legal validity under both national and international law and the extent to which these clauses can prevent the state from exercising its sovereign power within its territory. Arguing that the sharp divide among scholars and arbitrators in this regard proves the insufficient and uncertain nature of these clauses, which in turns makes the capability of these clauses to provide absolute protection to oil and gas investor questionable. Chapter three goes on to further affirm the conclusion reached in the second chapter through using the example of the Russian petroleum experiment, where the existence of stabilization clauses led to decreasing cooperation between the state and the industry and resulted in disrupting the parties relationship as the petroleum activities went on, given the fact that the Russian Petroleum Law concerned only encouraging the exploration activities while lifting many essential aspects unregulated with the view that if the oil was to be found, new legislation would be enacted. It is from this chapter where this paper comes to the conclusion that not only does stabilization clauses conflict with the principle of state sovereignty and may well be held invalid as a result, but also these clauses have appeared to be inconsistent with the parties needs to flexible mechanism in order to mitigate the risk of changes of circumstances brought about by time rather than parties acts. Finally, chapter four aims to advocate the recent trend of inserting renegotiation clauses into oil and gas contracts as the proper manner to mitigate not only the political risk of state behavior but also other commercial risks associated with petroleum projects, which in the latter case even the host state can enjoy the protection offered by this device. On the other hand, this chapter also recognizes the fact that renegotiation clause may be too flexible, and thus run the risk of the contract being open-ending. Therefore, this chapter argues that the success of this clause depends, to very large extent, on the specific drafting agreed by the parties and whether a clear mechanism and guidance have been provided to address potential disputes. Thus, this paper argues that the states right to legislate and to regulate should not be subject to negotiation, nor to be used as an incentive for the purpose of attracting investment as such commitment is difficult to be fulfilled in the long term. Furthermore, stabilization clauses have proved to be inefficient and difficult to predict as well as inconsistent with the parties needs in such a long term contract. Whereas, renegotiation clauses can achieve the parties aims and objectives of sustaining the agreed contractual arrangements and encouraging cooperation needed in long term contracts through flexible legal mechanisms. 2. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Primary Sources 1.1 Judicial decisions PreussenElektra case (PreussenElektra AG vs Schleswag AG) ECJ C-379/98, European Court reports 2001, I-02099 Stardust Marine case (French Republic v Commission of the European Communities) ECJ C-482/99, European Court reports 2002, I-04397 1.2 European Union secondary legislation Regulation (EC) No 1228/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2003 on conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchanges in electricity, OJ L176/37, 15.07.2003 2. Secondary Sources 2.1 Books Cameron P. D., Legal Aspects of EU Energy Markets, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005). Helm D., Energy, the State, and the Market: British Energy Policy since 1979 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). Hunt S., Making Competition Work in Electricity (New York: John Wiley Sons, Inc. 2002). 2.2 Articles Meier, G.M., Impact of the power-market liberalization on the operation of CHP-plants securing the competitiveness on the district heat market, 29(4) Euroheat and Power/Fernwarme International (2000). Klinge Jacobsen, H., Fristrup, P. and Munksgaard, J., Integrated energy markets and varying degrees of liberalisation: Price links, bundled sales and CHP production exemplified by Northern European experiences, 34(18) Energy Policy 3527-3537 (2006). 2.3 Other 2.3.1 Internet sources European Association for the Promotion of Cogeneration (GOGEN Europe), Financial and Regulatory Support for Cogeneration in EU (2007) http://www.cogeneurope.eu/publications/reports_and_studies.htm (last visited on 31 November 2008) Lowe, Ph., Applying EU Competition Law to the new liberalized energy markets, (13 May 2003) http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/speeches/text/sp2003_012_en.pdf (last visited on 1 December 2008) [1] L. Cotula, â€Å"Reconciling Regulatory Stability and Evolution of Environmental Standards in Investment Contracts: Towards a Rethink of Stabilization Clauses†, Journal of World Energy Law and Business, vol. 1 (2008), p164 [2] P. Thomas, â€Å"Evaluating Stabilisation Clause in Venezuelas Strategic Association Agreement for Heavy-Crude Extraction in the Orinoco Belt: The Return of a Forgotten Contractual Risk Reduction Mechanism for the Petroleum Industry† p.1

The Molding Hand of Oppression: Forming an Identity in Persepolis

Ruby Instructor Bachman Writing Across the Arts (Porter 80A-21) 2 November 2012 (1278 words) The Molding Hand of Oppression: Forming an Identity in Persepolis Every person is unique. However, there are many similar parts that go into creating every person’s identity. Of course, there is the biology, the genetics. Then there are outside forces, the nurturing of a person. When trying to form an identity, there are numerous outside factors that contribute, such as gender, culture, and environment.For Marji, the protagonist of the Persepolis series, being an Iranian woman is absolutely a factor that featured prominently in the shaping of her personality. She was not allowed to experiment with her identity by her clothing or style, because the government controlled what women were allowed to wear. She had to have some sort of connection with religion, because the government forced the religion upon its subjects. She also experienced hardships, like the death of family members, beca use of war against the tyrannical government.Growing up under the oppressive hand of the Iranian government has formed Marji’s strong identity. Clothing, a big form of self-expression, was predetermined for Marji, so that she had a few options of how to proceed. The first thing Marji introduces in the story is the veil, which is a headscarf that women are required to wear for public decency. Marji does not like the veil since she does not understand why she has to wear it. When Marji is young, she says, â€Å"I really didn’t know what to think about the veil, deep down I was very religious† (Persepolis 1, 7). Since she is so young, she is unaware of the real point of the veil.It is forced on because the government wants to hide the potential power women have. Later, Marji finds out that the restricted clothing has constrained her freedom by not allowing her to express a part of her individuality. After her parents come back from a trip to Istanbul, Turkey, she g ets gifts such as 1983 Nike Shoes, a denim jacket, a Michael Jackson button, and posters. She puts on her new shoes and her new jacket with the new button on it to go out and buy some music tapes. However, the guardians of the revolution, the women’s branch who arrest women who are improperly veiled, catch Marji.She luckily gets away. Through this experience, she realizes that she does not even have a minimal amount of freedom to show her individuality as a rebel. Clothing allows people to express their individuality, but forcing women to wear the veil not only prevents women from showing their own personality but also eliminates their freedom. If a woman wears a veil, then all the women will look just the same, and there is no opportunity for individuality there. Marji travels to Europe, and while there, she is finally able to express herself and experiment with her personality.When Marji becomes sixteen, she tries new stuff, coating her hair with gel, adding a thick line of eyeliner, and using safety pins as earrings (Persepolis 2, 36). As you see in the panels, she experiments with her hairstyles, which would not even be seen under the oppressive Iranian regime. Each new style is in a completely separate panel, showing the time passing between each event (McCloud 101). It takes time to develop an identity. She is allowed to express herself in Europe, and because of this, she is able to develop her personality in a way that she could not have been able to if she had been back in Iran.The government keeps Iranian women on a tight leash, so the lack of expression through clothing that Marji experiences in Iran, and the amount of expression she experiments with outside of her country, helped her develop as a person. Iran has a very strong connection between religion and state, which is reflected in Marji’s spirituality. Marji says herself that she was born with a religion, and she believes her path is to be a prophet. Religion becomes a part of he r character. Because she wants to be a prophet when she is ten, God sometimes appears and becomes her companion.Whenever Marji is having a personal conflict, God appears to help her work through it. For example, Marji takes a long bath in the water tub to feel like to be in a cell filled with water, when God appears to her. She is trying to experience what it feels like to be tortured, like her captured relatives and countrymen. God just randomly appears to her to ask, â€Å"What are you doing? † (Persepolis 1, 25). In that panel, The main color is white. White is a color like purity and spirituality, which makes sense, because God is in it. However, in the next panel, the background is entirely black.This panel does not have God in it. Instead, it is just Marji almost connecting to the pains of her grandfather. So the simplicity of the black background helps show the beginning of her internal conflict (McCloud 192). Marji is learning about how cruel the government truly is, and even God cannot help her understand why. Because Iran was very connected to religion, she always has a spirituality about her. The government forced a certain religion on Marji. Even though she did not always believe in that religion, she was still shaped by her conversations with God.Even though God doesn’t appear later on, believing in a religion as a child was able to lay the foundation for a spirituality that would last her the rest of her life. Living through war is very difficult. Because of war, many of Marji’s families and her neighbors met death. Satrapi’s graphic style, which is mainly composed of black and white, depicts violent moments with a simple description. For instance, when Satrapi depicts the bombing of her neighbors, the black and white frames, along with the gutters, portrays how terrified Marji feels (Persepolis 1, 142). For example, there is a panel where Marji is covering her eyes.Then it cuts to a panel that is just completely black . It shows just how emotional the scene is (McCloud 150). Because Satrapi’s style is so simple, drawing the character to explain the horrible emotions would be out of style. It is much more expressive just to keep the panel completely black. Since those dreadful incidents happened to her when she was young, she grew up as a strong-hearted and caring Iranian who knew the difficulties of war and came out stronger for it. Even though she disagrees with the lack of freedoms in her country, she is very proud to be an Iranian woman.She actually says this when some students were talking at a restaurant and were not respecting her. She stood up and said to them, â€Å"You are going to shut up or I am going to make you! I AM IRANIAN AND PROUD OF IT† (Persepolis 2, 43). The war and demonstrations due to the revolution has built her a strong identity as an Iranian. Marji is definitely shaped by her outside environment. The fact that she is Iranian during such difficult times is a bsolutely a big environmental factor. Not being able to wear whatever she wants limits her self-expression, so she has to work around that. The government forces a religion on her.She is also thrown into the middle of a war. All of these things should limit how her identity grows. But despite all the obstacles that being Iranian created for her, in the end, she still has a very strong connection with her Iranian culture. She obviously connects as an Iranian woman. Her own culture suppresses her, and in doing so, makes her stronger. Works Cited Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. New York: Pantheon, 2003. Print. Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. New York: Pantheon, 2004. Print. McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics. Northampton, MA: Kitchen Sink, 1993. Print.

History of Ford Motor Company

To say that Henry Ford dilly-dallied around before finally establishing a serious car company would be invalid. The 40 year old man had been acquiring valuable knowledge regarding business, engines, management, and most importantly cars. Now it was time to take a leap of faith. In 1903 the Ford Motor Company came to be. Ford, along with other investors including John and Horace Dodge raised $28,000 and in the first 15 months produced 1700 Model A cars. These cars were known for their reliability, yet were still too expensive for the average American. Over the next five years Ford and his engineers produced models with the letters B through S, the most successful of which was the Model N (priced at $500) , and the least successful was the Model K (priced at $2500). It was obvious from the Model N that the key to the companies success lay in inexpensive cars for a mass market. The answer that Ford and the American consumer were looking for was the Model T. The Model T, a small, sturdy four-cylinder car with an attractive design and a top speed of 45 mph, hit the market in 1908. It†s success came from it†s attractive price, at $850, and more than 10,000 were sold in the first year alone. It was easy to operate, maintain, handle on rough roads, and immediately became a success. Along with success came expansion, and in 1910 he established another assembly plant in Highland Park, Michigan. Through interchangeable parts, standard manufacturing, and a division labor, the demand greatly increased for the Model T. It was at this time in 1913 that Ford introduced the assembly line and forever changed our economy, our industry, and our culture. Ford†s concept of an assembly line sprang from the thought that a car could be produced much quicker if each person did one, single task. He applied this in his Highland Park plant, and cut down production time of one Model T to a fraction on the time. The carefully timed pace of a conveyer belt moving the parts along further speeded the process. With these new tactics, a factory could produce 40%-60% more cars per month. By late 1913 he had established assembly plants in Canada, Europe, Australia, South America, and Japan. At this point, the Ford Motor Company was the largest manufacturer of cars in the world. In 1914 Ford astonished the business world by more than doubling the minimum wage for his workers, raising it from about $2. 0 to $5. He argued that if his employees earned more, the company would sell more cars to them and reduce employee turnover. He said in regards to this ecenomical move â€Å"The high wage begins down in the shop. If it is not created there it cannot get into pay envelopes. There will never be a system invented which will do away with the necessity for work. † At this point the company had made $30 million in profits, mainly due to his economical and industrial scheme. It was now that he started focusing not only on cars, but on other world issues such as peace in the wake of World War I. He had a â€Å"peace ship,† called the Oscar II, sent to Norway on an expedition to end the war. This would contribute to his future project, the Ford Foundation. Ford displayed his true motives of pleasing the middle class consumer, when he lowered the cost of the Model T to $350 in 1916. In 1917 Ford started the construction of a industrial complex on the Rouge River in Dearborn, Michigan. The idea was to produce everything a car needed to run in one compact area. They had a a steel mill, glass factory, and automobile assembly line. This plant was the utopia of Ford†s mass production scheme. In 1918 Ford unsuccessfully ran for senate, and a year later he named his son Edsel Ford, the president of the Ford Motor Company. He also started a publication called â€Å"The Dearborn Independent. † This journal, produced weekly, was at first anti-Semitic. Statements against Jews were boldly printed. He said that the Jews were trying to â€Å"wipe out of public life every sign of the predominant Christian character of the United States,† as well as other demeaning remarks. After much public protest, Ford discontinued further publication, and made a public apology to the Jewish people. At this point the popularity started shifting from the Model T to larger more luxurious cars, and in 1927 the production of Model T†s ceased and six months later the Model A was introduced. This model included such improvements as hydraulic shock absorbers, automatic windshield wipers, a gas gauge, and a speedometer. The success of these was limited to 5 million, 10 million short of the Model T. It was at this time that the Ford Foundation was introduced. It was established â€Å"for scientific, educational, and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare. This organization basically attempted to further nurture the world in any aspect possible. This was made possible through all the money acquired through sales, primarily of the model T. Yet this utopia could only be temporary. As more and more large corporations started to pop up, so did labor unions. Ford was the only major manufacturer of cars in the Detroit area that had not recognized a labor union. In 1937 a band of supporters of unionization were physically beaten near a Ford plant by people suspected to work for the President of Ford. As a result, they were accused of unfair labor practices by the National Labor Relations Board. In 1941, following a massive workers strike, Henry Ford agreed to sign a contract that met workers demands. It was only two years later in 1943 when Henry Ford†s son, Edsel Ford died at age 49, and the president of the company. Henry himself was incapable of running the plants and managing business. He died in 1947 at the age of 83 in his hometown. He died a rich man; his fortune ranged somewhere between $500 and $700 million. Yet more importantly he died an accomplished man, who had left an imprint on the very definition of the word â€Å"American. â€Å"

Anorexia Nervos A Serious Physical And Emotional Illness...

Introduction What is anorexia? According to Merriam-Webster, anorexia is defined as, â€Å"A serious physical and emotional illness in which an abnormal fear of being fat leads to very poor eating habits and dangerous weight loss† (Anorexia, Merriam-Webster). Or in other words, those who suffer from anorexia have a fear of being fat, so they consume little to no food. Anorexia is also linked to the anorexia nervosa, which is an illness that can potentially be a life threatening eating disorder caused by starvation and excessive weight loss (Anorexia Nervosa, Nationaleatingdisorder.org). Studies have concluded that 90-95% of girl’s and women suffer from anorexia nervosa and 0.5-1% of American women suffer from anorexia nervosa. This disorder is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses in young women and is also one of the highest death rates of any mental health condition (Anorexia Nervosa, NationalEatingDisorder.org). This paper will discuss the causes of anorexia a nd anorexia nervosa, as well as the signs and symptoms of both, including how these disorders are linked to dental and if available, what treatments can be used. Etiology What causes anorexia? Research has concluded that the cause for anorexia is inconclusive or unknown. But many do urge that those who do suffer from anorexia, have this illness simply because it runs in their family. It is said that females who have a parent or even a sibling who suffer from anorexia or even an eating disorder in general may