Petroleum Contracts in Islamic Law: the Concession (Equity) and Contractor (Production Sharing) Agreements
Article from: OGEL 3 (2005), in Production Sharing Contracts
Abstract
The discretionary power of the Islamic ruler permits the award of contracts in the exploration and exploitation of minerals and in petroleum provided that the Islamic Law, the Sharia , is not violated . In Persia (Iran) before the First World War the English entrepreneur William Knox D'Arcy was awarded the first of the modern petroleum contracts in the Middle East. Later on, between the wars, the various Islamic monarchs granted to the International Oil Companies, IOCs, similar petroleum agreements which transferred Equity in petroleum reserves, their ownership after discovery, ...