The Qatari Exercise of Gas Joint Venture Contracts
Article from: OGEL 5 (2004), in National and International Issues in Natural Gas Development
Introduction
Until the 1970s, foreign companies had owned and managed the Arabian Gulf oil industry. In most cases, European- and United States-based concerns formed subsidiaries to work in specific countries, and these subsidiaries paid fees to the local rulers, first for the right to explore for oil and later for the right to export the oil. When the first arrangements were made, local rulers had a weak bargaining position because they had few other sources of income and were eager to get revenues from the oil companies as fast as possible, let alone the lack of the technical knowledge and ...