OIL AND GAS AGREEMENTS AND DISPUTE ARBITRATION: DISCERNING THE INTENTIONS OF THE PARTIES FROM THE FRAMEWORK OF THE AGREEMENT AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE DISPUTE WHAT THE ARBITRATORS CAN DO IN INTERPRETING THE APPLICABLE LAW IN RESOLVING DISPUTES

The General Introduction
International commercial Oil and Gas arbitration can be defined as commercial arbitration with caveat of a foreign element. This is usually the case where the parties to international petroleum contracts have diverse nationalities, subjects of different  international legal systems hence having different applicable laws to them.1It is important to define some terms at the onset so as to provide concise explanation and thus assist with the understanding of the subject matter. The main thrust of this paper is the nagging question in International Commercial Oil and Gas Arbitration: “do arbitrators both in fact and in de’jure carry out both the concealed and expressed intentions of the parties to International Commercial Oil and Gas Agreements regarding the governing law of the Agreement?” The truth is that, given the legal framework and nature of International commercial Oil and Gas arbitration, it is often described as hosting the world in one particular circumstance. In other words, the parties to these agreements are usually a mini United Nations, different territorial and legal backgrounds and therefore different conflicting applicable laws.