The Challenges of WTO in Global Governance on Oil

The World Trade Organization (WTO) as a global organization with its160 members has claimed the global governance on international trade. It is said that, nowadays, about 90% of world trade (in terms of world population) are under WTO’s fundamental principles control. Also, some Energy Law Experts from oil importing countries / oil consumer countries believe that WTO’s fundamental principles can govern on crude oil and oil derivatives as they are applied on industrial commodities. However, On the one hand, a unique features in the crude oil make it except from industrial goods and, as a result, make it outside the legal framework of the WTO, and on the other hand, a set of inherent limitations and shortcomings of the WTO legal system might cause serious legal challenges in the global governance of the organization in the oil field.