A Comparative Study of force majeure and ‎Hardship in Oil and Gas Investment Contracts ‎with an Emphasis on International and Regional ‎Instruments

During the performance of Oil and Gas contracts, which are usually one of the longest investment contracts, there may be incidents in which the relations between the parties and the fulfillment of obligations, change and become unstable. In order to deal with the new situation, which may prevent the fulfillment of the obligation or make its performance difficult, various theories have been expressed, which we have examined under the heading of contractual excuses. Contractual excuses, which are also considered as an exception to the principle of the necessity of contracts, have been identified under different titles and chapters in international and regional instruments, and the effects and remedies of that will also differ on the contract. In this article, while emphasizing the difference between contractual excuses from the “stabilization clause” which is used in Oil and Gas contracts, by examining the practical procedure of arranging and inserting the excuses clauses in several examples of these contracts, the authors at first try to introduce the types of terms and after pointing out the defects of each one, they have mentioned the necessary cases of amending and changing these contracts in order to comply with international and regional instruments.