Adaptability of open prices in the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreements with the Iranian legal system

According to the strong recommendation of the legal department of the National Iranian Oil Company, which indicates that the inclusion of Iranian law as the governing law in gas export contracts is preferable, the usual pricing mechanism in this type of contract and its acceptance is important from the perspective of Iranian law. In gas sales contracts, the transaction is based on a price formula including specific indexes for the contract term, and the calculation of the price will be postponed until delivery. According to the rules accepted in jurisprudence and Iranian civil code, the price should be definite and determinate, otherwise, the contract will be considered void and invalid. The present discussion will try to prove the legal validity of determining the price in the future based on the pre-agreed formula in gas sales contracts by explaining the jurisprudential and legal principles of open price in domestic law. The research findings show that the method of determining the price in gas sales contracts, which is called open price, according to the study, is under the principles of Iranian law and acceptable and does not damage the validity of the contract.