Introduction

Higher competition among host governments for international oil company risk capital has increased the focus on non-fiscal legal and contractual terms and conditions within upstream government petroleum contracts. Although fiscal terms, such as royalties and taxes, continue to be modified to lure increased foreign investment, host governments are also looking to create attractive non-fiscal provisions while still protecting their critical interests. A comparison of selected countries' model contracts shows that host governments vary in their approaches to many of these provisions. Also, ...