All Publications

According to the International Energy Agency, Brazil plays a central role in meeting the world’s oil needs through to 2035, accounting for one-third of the net growth in global supply. At the centre of the country’s efforts to become one of the world’s largest oil producers is a highly complex and capital-intensive deep-water project to develop its pre-salt basin oil reserves. The purpose of this paper is to briefly present the pre-salt project and its production challenges – both economic and political – demonstrating the potential benefits of the adoption of the International Energy Charter for its development.

The furore over the use of ISDS (Investor/State Dispute Settlement) in the United States/European Union Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations has illustrated the increasing distrust by some Governments and Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) of the use of arbitration in resolving Investor/State disputes. Jean-Claude Junker, the President of the European Commission, has likened arbitral tribunals to “secret courts”. This criticism has also spilled over into domestic arbitration. The New York Times published two critical articles this year accusing arbitration of “stacking the deck of justice” and calling it a “privatisation of the justice system”. The articles...

The aim of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is to establish a legal framework to promote long-term cooperation in the energy sector. The key provisions of the ECT concern the protection of investment, trade in energy materials and products, transit, energy efficiency and dispute settlement. Ukraine is a founding member of the Energy Charter Process. Having signed the International Energy Charter in May 2015, Ukraine reconfirmed its commitment to the Energy Charter and its continuing interest in its further development.

The main purpose of this report is to assess the core pillars of the new legal framework provided by the Energy Community Treaty (EnC Treaty) and EU Energy Law with respect to cross-border gas trade and access conditions for natural gas transportation infrastructure. At the same time, it seeks to distinguish the differential treatment provided in the existing multilateral legal frameworks (Energy Charter Treaty and GATT/WTO) and the EnC Treaty/EU rules with regard to transit and cross-border trade.

The consolidated version of the Energy Charter Treaty and related documents is not a legal document. It is a comprehensive reader-friendly edition is designed to facilitate work with the founding documents of the Charter: it contains text currently in force – with modifications up to date included and with parts which are no longer applicable removed for the sake of clarity. Guidance is provided in the margins by way of Editor's notes.

The Report was prepared by Prof. Wenhua Shan (Dean and Chair, Xi’an Jiaotong University) during his stay in Brussels as a Fellow at the Energy Charter Secretariat, with the assistance of Peng Wang (former Legal Intern at the Secretariat and a PhD. Candidate at Xi’ang Jiaotong University). It is another step into the deepening of the relations between the Energy Charter and China. 

Niger has significant energy potential, rich and varied, that is weakly exploited. It consists of biomass (firewood and agricultural residues, the main source used by households for cooking), uranium, mineral coal, oil, natural gas, hydroelectricity and solar energy. Despite this rich potential, access to energy is still a challenges for the authorities. Final energy consumption in Niger is estimated at 0.15 toe per capita, one of the lowest in the world. The weakness of this value is mainly due to limited access of Niger's households to modern energy.

The second In-depth energy efficiency review of Moldova was completed in 2015, by a team of experts from Slovakia (review team Leader) and Portugal, supported by the Energy Charter Secretariat and a local energy efficiency expert. 

The report commends Moldavian Government for giving high consideration to potential contribution of energy efficiency towards decreasing fuel imports and supporting economic growth and the environment giving and recommends that further attention is to be given to the stability of legislative framework as an important precondition for attracting investments in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors. In addition, future energy policies need to be...

The aim of the report is to present a comprehensive overview of existing legal practices in cross-border pipeline projects in several parts of the world. To this end, the report first identifies 19 core topics of cross-border pipeline agreements. It then evaluates how these topics are incorporated in 17 different cross-border oil and gas pipeline projects as well in the Energy Charter Model Agreements on Cross-Border Pipelines and in the provisions of the draft Transit Protocol.

A report published by the Energy Charter and funded by the European Union on the energy sector in Tanzania.

Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the newly independent South Caucasus states experienced an impressive deterioration in the economic and social sectors. Unresolved territorial conflicts such as Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as the wider insecurity of the region, have resulted in internal instability and economic depressions. Due to political conflicts, civil opposition and blockades, the South Caucasus region became a challenging area for trade, and this affected all areas of the economy including energy. The energy markets of the South Caucasus states, which were part of the unified Trans-Caucasus energy system during the Soviet era, broke down and...

This study shows that the Energy Charter Treaty and the International Energy Charter are suitable legal and political foundations for energy cooperation in Northeast Asia. Active participation of new partner countries, the Republic of Korea and China in the Energy Charter Process allows to share the lessons learnt in the realisation of the EU internal electricity market and its pragmatic solutions. The study confirms that the broad concept of national sovereignty under the Energy Charter Treaty and the International Energy Charter makes it possible that Northeast Asian countries benefit from pragmatic solutions experienced in other regions such as the EU and may start collaborating on...

Egypt's energy sector is currently facing a variety of conflicting and overlapping challenges. This is mainly seen in Egypt's gruelling efforts to strike a balance between production, domestic consumption, and export revenue, while seeking to maintain internal political harmony. Despite the fact that Egypt is the largest non-OPEC oil producer in Africa and the second largest gas producer in the continent, as well as the vital role it plays in regional and global energy markets, the country's energy status throughout the last four years reflects a reversal on all levels.

This work by Energy Charter research fellow Mr Uğur Erman Özgür discusses the relation between investment protection and taxation under international investment agreements. It is common practice that taxation is a sovereign and legitimate regulatory exercise which usually remains excluded by international standards of investment protection. In this respect, Article 21 of the Energy Charter Treaty provides a complex mechanism preserving the sovereign taxation powers.

This review concludes that Latvia has consistently pursued liberal economic policies and reforms to improve the business climate. The business reforms in Latvia have strengthened the private sector, created macroeconomic conditions favourable for growth and helped to improve the business environment, thus attracting the attention of international investors.