Ensieh Mohajeri
Legal Directorate
MAPNA Group Co.
Mrs. Mohajeri has been working in energy industry for almost 15 years. She’s currently a Legal Directorate at MAPNA Group, a leading conglomerate in the energy industry in Iran. She studied PhD in petroleum law at SBU, Tehran, Iran. She received her second LLM in International Energy, Natural Resources and Indigenous People at OU, Oklahoma, USA. Besides she is an instructor at Petroleum University of Technology, in Tehran, Iran. Her research is focused on Stakeholder Dispute Avoidance Strategies in Upstream Petroleum Contract.
Participates in
TECHNICAL PROGRAMME | Energy Leadership
Stakeholder Engagement
Forum 31 | Digital Poster Plaza 5
30
April
12:00
14:00
UTC+3
Despite significant advancements in renewable energy, hydrocarbon resources remain the world's primary energy source. Estimates and forecasts indicate that the petroleum demand expected to persist for at least the next 25 years. For this reason, energy security and reliable access to petroleum resources remain of paramount importance for both petroleum exporting and consuming countries. Meeting this level of demand by petroleum producing countries requires not only the optimal development and maximum recovery from already developed and producing petroleum fields but also necessitate adequate investments in the industry, today, tomorrow, and for many decades into the future.
The global nature of the petroleum industry, coupled with the close link between the welfare and socio-economic development of nations and their energy resources, has made the execution and fate of upstream petroleum contracts subject to the influence of numerous stakeholders—even if these actors are not are not legally recognized as contractual parties, may know as ‘silent stakeholders. Today, most oil companies and commercial institutions, while pursuing profit maximization and shareholder interests, have also adopted the three pillars of sustainable development—economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social progress—as guiding principles in their policies and objectives. In other words, they have expanded their focus to a broader range of stakeholders, including indigenous peoples, local communities and their protecting NGOs aiming at reducing social risks and crises within project areas and preventing potential conflicts with such stakeholders. These have even led to the participation of major oil companies in the socio-economic development and public welfare of host countries, particularly in less-developed and developing nations, and to the recognition of concepts such as "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”. The strategy, undoubtedly helped them to attain and secure their “social license to operate”.
Considering recent developments in dispute management strategies, this study analyzes different disputes in upstream contracts worldwide to answer the question of how the diversity of stakeholders particularly in the petroleum industry can affect the profitability and the smooth performance of a petroleum project. It also explores the successful strategies applied by major international oil companies and the role of law and claim preventive contractual mechanisms to mitigate the risk of conflict between stakeholders.
Keywords: Upstream petroleum contracts, stakeholders, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), local content, social license to operate.
Co-author/s:
Mahmoud Reza Firoozmand, Professor, Petroleum University of Technology Tehran.
The global nature of the petroleum industry, coupled with the close link between the welfare and socio-economic development of nations and their energy resources, has made the execution and fate of upstream petroleum contracts subject to the influence of numerous stakeholders—even if these actors are not are not legally recognized as contractual parties, may know as ‘silent stakeholders. Today, most oil companies and commercial institutions, while pursuing profit maximization and shareholder interests, have also adopted the three pillars of sustainable development—economic growth, environmental sustainability, and social progress—as guiding principles in their policies and objectives. In other words, they have expanded their focus to a broader range of stakeholders, including indigenous peoples, local communities and their protecting NGOs aiming at reducing social risks and crises within project areas and preventing potential conflicts with such stakeholders. These have even led to the participation of major oil companies in the socio-economic development and public welfare of host countries, particularly in less-developed and developing nations, and to the recognition of concepts such as "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)”. The strategy, undoubtedly helped them to attain and secure their “social license to operate”.
Considering recent developments in dispute management strategies, this study analyzes different disputes in upstream contracts worldwide to answer the question of how the diversity of stakeholders particularly in the petroleum industry can affect the profitability and the smooth performance of a petroleum project. It also explores the successful strategies applied by major international oil companies and the role of law and claim preventive contractual mechanisms to mitigate the risk of conflict between stakeholders.
Keywords: Upstream petroleum contracts, stakeholders, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), local content, social license to operate.
Co-author/s:
Mahmoud Reza Firoozmand, Professor, Petroleum University of Technology Tehran.
